The Last Doctor: The Legend of the Maze Master Book 3 : In Memoria
by Aline Riva
Summary: Book 3 of the Crystal Maze/Doctor Who Trilogy. Ed is reunited with Rose Tyler - stirring up memories for the last Doctor as he recalls his lost love. Then a stranger turns up claiming be an old friend. When Ed recalls Harold Saxon is his enemy the Master, who he has long believed dead, there will be a final confrontation that will change everything, forever. *Dr Ed/Ace/Rose/10*
1. Chapter 1

**The Last Doctor: The Legend of the Maze Master Book 3: In Memoria**

**Author Note: This is Book 3 in the Crystal Maze/ Doctor Who crossover trilogy.**

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**Summary:**

**When the Tenth Doctor suffers a potentially deadly snake bite he searches time and space for his distant future regeneration known as Rick, who is rumoured to own a vast collection of poison antidotes.**

**But then the Tardis is spun out of control by an unknown force, leaving the Doctor and Rose much further ahead in time than they had intended, where they do not find Rick, but instead meet Ed, the Doctor's final regeneration.**

**As the Tenth Doctor fights the effects of the snake venom, Ed and Ace search Rick's vast archive beneath the maze to find the antidote storage area – while Rose waits and worries as the Tenth Doctor's condition worsens.**

**Once the antidote is found, Rose learns she will have a long wait for the Doctor to recover from the effects of the venom. And in that time, Ed begins to find her closeness hard to bear as he struggles to remain faithful to Ace as as memories of his love for Rose Tyler resurface.**

**And then the reason for the forced landing of the Tenth Doctor's Tardis is revealed – and Ed is reunited with yet another face from the past, but one he believed to be long dead – the Master has tracked down the Doctor in his final life, planning to destroy his long standing enemy. The resulting battle will be brutal and the price terrible as the two men fight to the death one last time – and a dark secret is finally revealed...**

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**Rated T**

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**Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is a work of fan fiction.**

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Chapter 1

The Tenth Doctor's Tardis was hurtling through time and space.

As he clung to the console a trickle of sweat ran down his face as pain throbbed deep in the small double puncture wound on the back of his hand.

"Doctor?"

Rose sounded frightened, and he felt responsible for that.

"I'll be okay," he paused, drawing in a sharp breath, then he gave a brief cry of pain as he slumped against the console and then straightened up again.

"You don't seem okay to me!"

He blinked as his vision blurred and then cleared again.

"I will be okay Rose, I just need to get the antidote...from myself."

He leaned heavily on the console again as the pain in his hand crept up his arm and shot through his body.

"Yourself?"

Rose placed her hand on his arm, and as he turned his head and caught her expression he briefly smiled as he shook his head.

"No, I'm not delirious! Let me explain quickly...there's a far distant future version of me, another regeneration, he has an unusual hobby – he studies poisonous plants and animals from tropical planets and collects antidotes to every single poison."

He hurriedly worked the controls and then drew back sharply, clutching at his throbbing arm.

"I'm sorry about all this, Rose. It was supposed to be a relaxing trip!"

"To a place filled with poisonous snakes?"

The Doctor was still in pain.

"_I forgot about the snakes!"_

Then he leaned against the console once more as more pain ran through his body. Rose looked on in alarm as he paled and started to tremble.

"Okay...we should be there in a few minutes..." he said breathlessly, "He will know what to do...Rick, tall, slim bloke, wears a leopard print jacket...you'll know him when you see him."

Then he straightened up, staggered and leaned harder on the console, Rose put her arm around him but he still struggled to stand as his eyes widened and he stared at the altering flight plan on the monitor.

"No, that's not right! What's going on?"

Rose looked to the star map and back at the Doctor.

"I don't understand !"

"Neither do I, we just changed course – how did that happen?"

He reached across the console as blood ran from the puncture wounds in the back of his hand and hit some buttons. Then the pain took hold and he slid to the floor, leaning against the console as he loosened his tie and shivered as sweat ran down his face.

"I turned us around... at least, I hope I did...the venom's taking hold..."

And he took in a deep breath as he tried to focus on Rose, who was on her knees beside him.

"I'm sorry Rose," he said weakly, "But you're on your own... it really is down to you now..."

And the Tardis faded out of sight, and shot through to another time and place and landed with a jolt.

* * *

Ace woke to birdsong and warm sunshine spilling through the open window.

As she opened her eyes she looked up and then towards the window and wondered why she was not in the bedroom back at the house, and then she smiled as she recalled how she ans Ed had spent the evening in the maze and then gone back to the castle in the Medieval zone for the night.

She rolled over in cool sheets that carried he scent of her lover, and then she slid her hand slowly across the mattress, recalling the way he had taken her in his arms and made love with such passion. She remembered how she had tugged at his shirt and slid it off his toned body as her hands hand run over his shoulders and he had kissed her deeply as she ached for him to take her. It had been a night where they had seen little sleep but as still felt the after glow of their love making and she smiled as she longed for him to hold her all over again.

And the space beside her was...empty?

"Ed?" she called out, but got no reply.

Ace got out of bed and went over to the window and looked out. The view that greeted her was one of rolling fields and blue skies lit by early morning sunshine... yet the maze was underground, how _did_ the Tardis do that?

And then a white horse galloped across the field and leapt a ditch, clearing it with ease.

Ace smiled as she recognised the rider – his red and gold waist coat caught the sunlight and sparkled as he took the horse over the field once more – Ed loved to take his horse Bert for an early morning ride when ever they stayed overnight in the Medieval zone. He said the rest of the time the Tardis took care of the horse, and she wondered how that happened, but she guessed that was yet another mystery she would never solve – the Tardis was a cluster of worlds within worlds, a marvel in its own right...

Ace watched as Ed rode the horse off into the distance and then she turned from the window and headed for the bathroom and a warm shower, she guessed by the time she was showered and dressed Ed would be back from his morning ride.

Ace was thinking about kissing him on his return from the fields and then cooking breakfast, she had not heard the landing of another Tardis nearby...and she did _not_ know their peaceful life together was about to change...

* * *

The Tenth Doctor's Tardis had landed sharply.

Rose drew in a frightened breath as she grabbed at the sleeve of his jacket and gave it a shake.

"Please don't pass out!" she said tearfully, "I don't even know where we are!"

He gave a weary sigh and slowly opened his eyes as he fought against the effect of the venom.

"Rose, this is Earth... and I can't get up, you have to leave me here -"

She pushed her hair off her face as she nodded.

"Okay, I'll do it...but I won't go far and I won't leave you for long, I'm coming back, I promise!"

He struggled to focus on her, seeing her face and fair hair through blurred vision.

"Doctor Rick," he whispered, "Go and find him, please..."

Then weakness forced him to close his eyes, and he felt her kiss his cheek and she sounded tearful as she spoke again.

"Okay, I'll go now, I won't be long."

And then she left his side and he heard the Tardis door close behind her, and he gave a heavy sigh as pain and exhaustion took over.

"_Please hurry, Rose,"_ he whispered, _"I don't think I have much time..."_

* * *

Ace had returned to the house, then she had glanced at the time and wondered if Ed was back from the maze yet.

She went out into the garden, heard the birdsong in the trees and as the air filled with the scent of roses, she also heard the low hum of the Tardis, and it made her smile as the sound reminded her that the Tardis would always be her home.

Then as she walked down the garden path she caught sight of Ed, and she stopped walking. He was standing in a corner of the garden beside the willow tree, his hands behind his back as he held his riding crop and spoke quietly as he stood over the white marble headstone marking the grave of Jayden Drake.

"I took Bert for a morning ride," he said,"The Tardis made sure the weather was perfect for it, I could see for miles across those fields!"

And then his cheerful tone of voice faded.

"I remember the time I tried to teach you to ride, and you fell off. You wasn't too happy about landing in the mud and ruining your new suit...I miss you so much, Jayden. Of all the companions I've known, you were the one I thought of as a brother, and I still do."

Then he fell silent for a moment as he gathered his thoughts as he looked down at the name etched into the marble.

"And one of these days I'll have to go down to the crypt and sit with you, I feel I should do that – I know Idris keeps you preserved... but I'm just not ready to do it, to see you..."

He hesitated again, not wanting to say it aloud, but then he continued, "I know you're dead. But seeing you in that coffin? I'm not sure I can do it. I'm sure you look very different to how you did when you died, I know the Tardis has probably made you look as you did in life – but I know you're dead. And I also know that when I look at you, I will think to myself, _Jayden is dead, my brother is gone_. You're the best friend I ever had."

And then he turned away from the grave and smiled sadly as he saw Ace standing close by, and she looked at him apologetically.

"Sorry," she said, "I didn't know you were talking to Jayden again."

"I talk to him all the time," Ed replied, "And I miss him every day, I always will."

And then he turned away from the grave and smiled again, and this time all trace of sadness had left him.

"Anyway, it's time to change the subject. I had a lovely ride with Bert this morning."

And then he put his arm around her waist and they turned back towards the house.

"What's for breakfast?"

"I haven't even started it yet. I was waiting for you."

Ed playfully tapped her backside through the thin material of her summer dress, catching her lightly with the riding crop, and then he laughed as she gave a gasp.

"It's a bit early in the morning for that!" Ace exclaimed.

He pulled her closer and kissed her cheek.

"It's never to early for me," he told her, "Now let's go and eat, before I get too many ideas about you and me and this riding crop, Ace McShane!"

And she laughed as they went into the house together.

* * *

Rose blinked away tears as she made her way through the woodland.

Her thoughts were a muddle of all that had happened and all the Doctor had asked of her – and as she looked around, she stifled a sob and the wiped her eyes, trying to focus on his instructions.

"Where do I go?" she said aloud, and then she walked on a little further and saw an old brick wall with a tall wooden gate set into it.

"Please be human – and friendly," she whispered as she approached the gate, "No wait, this is Earth..so they should be human...maybe not friendly... where the bloody hell is this Tardis? I don't see a Tardis!"

And she unlatched the gate and walked into the garden, pausing to close the gate behind her. Then Rose stood there looking down the path towards a house.

And then as she listened, she heard a low him...exactly the same sound as the Tardis?

How could that be?

She looked around again, seeing a pretty garden leading up to an ordinary house I the countryside... yet she could hear the Tardis!

"Where is it?" she said, looking left and right as she walked down the path. Then she paused, feeling slightly unnerved at the sight of a white marble gravestone over in the corner beneath a willow tree... _Jayden Drake_ sounded very much like a person, not a household pet...They had a person's _grave_ in their garden?

"Weird.." she whispered, and then she walked on towards the house, remembering she had to help the Doctor, and that would mean knocking on the door...

* * *

After breakfast, Ace looked across the kitchen table thoughtfully as Ed sipped his tea.

"Do you do that every day?"

"Do what every day?"

"Talk to Jayden."

He put the tea down and paused for a moment, then he nodded.

"Yes I do. I don't know if I should be spending so much time at his grave, but I can't ignore the fact that he's there. I thought I'd lost him a century ago and then when Idris brought him back to life – I know he only survived for a brief time, but now I feel as if I've lost him all over again."

"Maybe she should have let him go at the time it happened," Ace said quietly, "I mean, that was when he was supposed to die."

He looked into her eyes.

"But its not that easy when love is involved. If you had the kind of power Idris possesses, and it had been me, what would you have done?"

Ace knew the answer right away.

"I would have done the same thing," she told him, "I wouldn't have let go."

Then she saw pain in his eyes and reached across the table and placed her hand over his.

"I know you miss Jayden. And you can always talk to me about him if you need to, I don't mind listening. He seemed like a really nice bloke."

"He was, he was one of the best."

And then Ace drew in a deep breath, keeping her grip on his hand as she decided now would be as good a time as any to raise a subject she had wanted to mention for some time...

"Do you think you'll ever want us to become a family?"

Ed let go of her hand. Her question had been unexpected and he wasn't sure how to answer.

"I've lived many lifetimes. I've married and raised children, I did all that centuries ago. But I Idris told me one day our children will come along. So yes, I'm looking forward to that happening. But it could take time, Ace. I'm from Gallifrey and you're human and inter species breeding can take a very long time to happen. Me and Barbara tried with no success at all. And believe me, we certainly did try – all the time, every day...we had a great sex life -"

"Okay, shut up about her," Ace said quickly, "I don't need to know that." And then she thought about what else he had just said and her eyes widened in surprise.

"You've got kids already?"

"Somewhere," Ed replied, "Over the centuries, across the galaxies – but my memories are not complete, I cant recall most of them."

Ace gave a sigh.

"Blame your memory damage!"

"I'm not blaming anything!" he said, "I'm telling the truth! My memory was wiped when I was disconnected from the power core, I've got something like one third of it back! You know that, I'm not making up excuses."

"Sorry." she replied quietly,. "It's just that I wasn't expecting to hear that."

"Why did you ask me anyway?"

She looked at him and said nothing.

"Ace?"

"I was just wondering," she replied, and then she remembered with his damaged memory he was not as good at spotting a lie as the Professor had been, and to lie to him now seemed unfair, so she spoke again:

"I was asking because I wanted to tell you -"

There was a knock at the door and their conversation was instantly forgotten.

"The back door?" said Ace, "Someone must have come in through the garden."

And they both got up from the table and went to the door together.

* * *

Rose had knocked twice, and then turned back and looked down the path to the gate that led to the woodland. She had suddenly got the creepy feeling that someone was watching her, but had seen no one and put it down to the fact that the grave in the garden had made her feel uneasy.

And then she had no more time to think about it, because the door opened.

"I'm looking for the Doctor, it's urgent!"

Ed said nothing as he stared at the blonde woman who stood there wearing denim jeans and a matching jacket. She looked very familiar indeed...

"You've found him," Ace replied, "Who are you?"

"She's Rose Tyler," Ed said in a hushed voice as his twin hearts missed a beat and memories came rushing back at him so painfully he wished he had taken her advice and let Idris erase her from his mind.

Rose looked at the couple who stood in the open doorway, the woman was in a short, light summer dress, her long hair fell to her shoulders and she looked to be in her mid twenties. The man who stood beside her was older and classically handsome and his style of clothing seemed out of place for twentieth century Earth, his clothing seemed to be Georgian style...and he wasn't wearing a leopard print jacket...

"I need to speak to the Doctor," she said again, "It's important!"

"And Ace already told you, I'm here!" Ed replied.

Rose looked at him in confusion.

"No...the other one...Rick..."

"I'm sorry but he regenerated long ago. I'm the Doctor now," Ed told her.

And Rose drew in a shocked breath as she blinked away tears.

"Oh no! He said we might have gone off course!"

"Who?"

"The Doctor –_ my_ Doctor, I think he's Tenth regeneration? He's been bitten by a striped sunray snake while we were on Veyama-six and he doesn't have the antidote! He said Rick kept a large archive of poisons and antidotes, you _have_ to take me to him, take me in your Tardis!"

And she pushed past him and walked into the house.

_"Your Tardis, Doctor!"_ she said urgently.

Ed looked at her apologetically.

"This is my Tardis – and the garden, and a huge hidden maze beneath ground level, too – its all the Tardis. But she can't fly any more, not since she was damaged in the great battle for Earth a hundred years ago. I'm the last Doctor, the final regeneration and I really don't know how to help you."

He saw desperation in her eyes as she blinked away more tears.

"But you _have_ to help me! If he dies won't that mess up the regeneration cycle?"

"I don't know," Ed replied, "But some moments are fixed points in time and I am definitely destined to be here, so it won't affect my existence. My memory was wiped - long story – and I only got part of it back. I probably won't be much use to you at all."

"But he could die, don't you even care?"

Ace looked sharply at Rose.

"Ed was part of the Tardis power core for a century. Taking him out of there caused a lot of damage. Sometimes it takes him a while to work things out. _Don't_ talk to him like that!"

"Thank you Ace, but that's not necessary, I don't need defending..."

Ed sounded distracted as he paced the hallway.

Then he snapped his fingers as a sudden idea came to mind and he looked up, addressing the voice of the Tardis:

"Barbara, do we have a poisons archive?"

"Yes Edward," the voice replied.

"Who's Barbara?" Rose said.

"A computer program," Ace replied, "Ed wrote it to give the Tardis a voice."

Ed was still waiting, but heard no more.

"So where is it?" he asked.

"The archive is located beneath the maze, situated under the access route between the Futuristic and Aztec Zones," the Tardis replied.

"Thank you Barbara," he replied, and then he turned to Rose.

"Where is your Doctor's Tardis?"

"In the woods behind the house – he was to weak to leave the Tardis so he sent me instead."

Ed placed his hands on her shoulder as he looked in her eyes, and as he spoke again, Ace looked on feeling quietly pleased she was witnessing this moment – yet again she was seeing another flash of the Time Lord he really was, before the memory loss.

"Rose," he said, "I want you to go back to the Tardis and stay with the Doctor. Me and Ace will go to the maze and find the archive and bring you the antidote. Don't move him, just stay with him until we get there, okay?"

Rose nodded.

"Thanks," she said, and then she opened the door and hurried off down the path to rejoin the Tenth Doctor in his Tardis.

Ed took hold of Ace's hand.

"Come on," he said, "Let's go to the maze and find this archive."

Then they left the house together, hurrying towards the brick wall and the concealed entrance to the maze.

* * *

Rose was breathless by the time she reached the Tardis. She ran inside and fell to her knees beside the Doctor, and then she ran her hand over hair dampened by sweat and spoke to him softly.

His eyes slowly opened and through blurred vision he quickly recognised her.

"Rose," he whispered, "Did you find him?"

She clasped his hand tightly as she sat beside him.

"No, but I found another Doctor – he says he's the last one... he said he's going to find the archive and bring you the antidote."

He breathed a relieved sigh despite the pain that made him tremble and sweat heavily.

"So we did go off course...the last Doctor? I've heard the stories..." And then he drew in a weary breath, "They say he slept for a hundred years, in a dreaming Tardis..."

Then he slipped away again as exhaustion took over, and Rose sat beside him in silence as she clung to his hand and watched the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed heavily, still fighting the venom that threatened to claim him.

* * *

Ace and Ed went down the steps into the maze. Ed held her hand as he led her quickly down corridors, taking a short cut through the Futuristic Zone. As they stopped by a lift that ascended to the Aztec Zone, Ace paused to catch her breath.

"Are you sure this is the right way?" she asked him, "Because I thought there was only two floors."

Ed stepped into the lift, waited for Ace to follow and then closed the door.

"I'm assuming as we go up for the Aztec Zone, if I press the down button it will take us to the hidden floor under the maze," he told her.

"You are correct," said Barbara, "Well done, Ed. How clever of you to work that out. Clearly you're much more than just a pretty face."

And Ed laughed and hit the down button, and the lift descended into darkness, then passed down into the lower level, where a vast area with corridors leading left and right were lit by spotlights set in a high, dark ceiling.

"This place is massive!" Ace said as she looked around at the vast lower level.

Ed opened the lift door and Ace stepped out and then he followed.

"Looks like the guidance system is voice activated," he remarked as they stood together looking up at a large screen that bore the message _Please state password._

"I hope you know the password," Ace replied, "This place is so big it would take months to search without help."

"I don't need the password, it's _my_ system, it will _have_ to let me in!"

And Ed looked up at the screen again.

"This is the Doctor speaking," he said, "Let me in please, I require the guidance system."

And the message changed:

_System locked. Password required._

Ed turned to Ace as panic flashed in his eyes.

"I don't know it!" he said in alarm, "I can't remember the password!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

As they stood together looking up at the screen, Ed spoke again.

"I do not recall the password, and I require urgent access to the archive!"

And the message vanished, and suddenly Rick appeared on the screen wearing his leopard print jacket.

"I understand you've forgotten the password, Doctor," he said.

Ace turned to Ed with a startled expression.

"How is he doing that? How is sounding like he's actually here, having a conversation with us?"

"I don't know," Ed replied, and he stepped closer to the screen, and Rick spoke again.

"Apologies, Doctor – But you may recall I couldn't fit all your memories into the transfer procedure. And how am I talking to you like this, as if the three of us are having a conversation? Well, it's not the first time we've left an interactive message is it? _Don't blink, blink and you're dead._ Remember that?"

Ed shook his head.

"I'm sorry, I don't remember it," he replied.

"And you still need the password to access the archive," Rick replied, "I'm sure the answer will come to you. Let me give you a clue."

And Rick paused, glancing away from the camera.

"Come here, Barbara."

Ed felt a vague ache in his twin hearts as Barbara stood beside Rick and he put his arm around her.

"Here's your clue," said Rick, "I'm sure you still recall her measurements."

And then Barbara stepped aside and Rick looked into the camera.

"Hurry, Doctor – I'm assuming this IS an emergency..."

Ed was thinking hard, turning over scattered memories. And then he got it.

"Thirty six C!" He announced.

"Archive unlocked," replied Rick, and a second screen lit up below the main one, along with a keypad.

Ace gave a sigh.

"I should have known, the password was her bra size!"

And then Rick spoke again.

"Now you have reached the automated service. Welcome to the Tardis intergalactic poisons archive, where you can access botanical material, computer data and necessary antidotes. Now for the part I hate..."

He gave a heavy sigh.

_"If you want botanical specimens, press One. For research data regarding toxic or venomous wildlife, press Two. If you seek anti venom or other poison antidotes, press C."_

Ed pressed C on the keypad and looked up at the screen.

"Now what?"

Rick looked at him through the screen.

"Now state the planet of origin and species of plant or animal responsible for the injury sustained."

Ed thought for a moment, and then frustration crept into his voice.

"Why didn't you fix my memory properly? Rose told me...just give me a minute, it will come back. It has to come back to me!"

"It was the planet of Veyama-six , it was a snake bite, breed of snake was striped sunray," Ace told him, and Ed repeated the information.

"Please wait," Rick replied, "Processing..."

And then he drew a harmonica from his pocket and began to play a tune.

Ed looked at Ace in disbelief.

"_Processing? _How long is this going to take, we can't afford to waste time!"

And then Rick stopped playing and put the harmonica back in his pocket.

"Before you receive directions, you _must_ receive the following instructions – so pay close attention! The anti venom is administered via a single injection. Recovery time is slow, and once the antidote is administered the patient must rest and receive hydration and assistance with breathing until the venom is completely neutralised, this must be done under medical supervision. Do you fully understand everything I just said?"

"Yes, just tell me where to find the antidote!" Ed said impatiently.

"Corridor A, room thirty one. The unit will be unlocked and illuminated," Rick replied, and then the screen froze.

Ed grabbed her hand again and led Ace quickly down to corridor A.

"What was the room number?" he asked.

"Thirty-six," Ace replied, "And I'm so glad I'm with you, you're _so_ forgetful sometimes!"

"The memory damage is to blame for that."

"I know it is," she told him, and then they started to check door numbers as they passed each room. As they reached an unlocked door marked thirty-six, Ed gave it a push and walked inside and Ace followed.

"We've found the room... now, where is the antidote?"

Ace looked around at the walls lined with small numbered boxes set into the stonework.

"It must have taken him years to collect all this stuff!" Ace exclaimed.

Ed caught sight of an illuminated box and pulled it out.

"It certainly did – must have taken a couple of centuries. Perhaps it's a good thing I don't remember all of this – it's not my idea of an interesting past time!"

He reached into the box, took out a sealed up, preloaded syringe and then closed the box and put the syringe in his pocket.

"Well we found what we came for, let's get back to his Tardis and hope we're not too late!"

They left the room and made their way back down the corridor towards the lift.

* * *

"So you don't remember much about your past?" Ace asked as she got into the lift.

Ed joined her, closed the door and pushed a lever and the lift began to climb.

"I have pieces of memories, I recall those I've known and loved, families, children – but so much of it was so long ago and I only have pieces of those recollections. It's not Rick's fault - my memory was too damaged, he knew he couldn't fit everything back in."

The lift came to a stop and they got out in a corridor that led through the Futuristic Zone and back towards the exit.

"What about your own family, when you were growing up on Gallifrey? Do you recall them?" Ace asked as they climbed the steps to the exit.

Ed paused by the hidden switch, activated it and the door slid back.

"Not much at all." he replied, and went out into the garden and Ace followed, then he activated the hidden switch on the other side and the wall slid back into place, concealing the doorway to the maze.

Then they left the garden and entered the woodland behind the house.

* * *

As Ace caught sight of the blue police box in the clearing nearby, she thought of the years she had spent travelling with the Professor.

"It looks like I remember it," she said.

"I bet it won't on the inside," Ed replied, and then they made their way through the woodland to the clearing where the Tenth Doctor's Tardis stood framed by dense trees with heavy boughs.

As Ace stepped into the vast and unfamiliar console room of the Tardis and saw the young man in the brown suit on the floor unconscious, she stared at him as she thought about regeneration and wondered how one man could have so many very different faces. Then Rose looked up from where she sat beside him and Ace saw fear in her eyes.

"Please tell me you've got it!"

"Yes we have," Ed told her, "But he can't have the anti venom until he's in a medical facility where he will need to recover for several days. He can't do that here on earth and certainly not in this century."

Rose took another anxious look at the Tenth Doctor and then she stood up.

"So what are we going to do?"

Ed glanced over at the wide console doubtfully, taking in the sight of altered controls he recalled little about from a lifetime so long ago.

"I'll have to pilot the Tardis. I can more or less work out the order of the controls – every Tardis is different, but it ought to come back to me."

Ace looked on in horror as he went over to the console and ran his hand over buttons and then thoughtfully touched levers as he struggled to recall their basic functions.

"Ed, you don't _know_ this Tardis!"

He had been leaning over the console, working out a flight plan on a star map, and as he looked up, she saw new confidence in his eyes, it was a look that reminded her he was still very much the Doctor despite all he had been through.

"Don't worry, Ace," he told her, "My memory's not as it was but I'm confident I can fly this Tardis."

And as he smiled she did too, knowing for sure he was indeed still the Doctor – yes, he could fly this ship she could see it in his eyes, he had no doubts at all...

Then he looked back down at the star map and studied it intently.

"So...we need to go to the planet of Usscora in the constellation of Cygnus in the galaxy of Carina Zagreus. I'm setting the year of arrival at 3150. Two reasons for that – the planet is a successful colony comprising of human-cyborg technology, and also because they have highly advanced medical skills in their main facility in the town of Lilac, so called after their successful five hundred year old industry based around the mining of _what?_"

He continued to key in flight co ordinates and then looked up as he smiled.

"You don't know?"

"I wasn't expecting a history lesson!" Ace murmured as she realised she was starting to form a picture in her mind of what he had been like in his days as the time travelling Doctor, in the days before the great battle for Earth.

Ed finished plotting the course and smiled, forgetting the time and place as he stood at the controls and recalled the old days.

"You'll know the answer," he said, turning to the empty space beside him, "What do they mine in Lilac, Jayden?"

And then he fell silent, hearing no reply but the hum of the Tardis and he quickly turned back to the others looking slightly shocked at his own forgetfulness.

"_Sorry about that...forgot where I was for a minute...Jayden would have known the answer. He knew everything about the constellations. And it was Tronlinite... they have a successful mining industry in semi precious Tronlinite stones... I'd better get on and fly this Tardis now..."_

And he threw a switch and turned a dial, and the Tardis took off gracefully, leaving Earth far behind as it shifted dimension.

* * *

The Tardis travelled smoothly through the vortex, Ace looked on feeling quietly proud of the man she loved as he flew the Tardis as if he had never been away from the controls.

"Ten more minutes and we reach our destination," he said, "How is he doing, Rose?"

She was back on her knees beside the Doctor. She ran her hand over his damp hair and said his name and he murmured something she didn't catch and then shivered.

"He's still not responding."

Then Rose looked up at Ed.

"He is going to be all right? Please, tell me he's going to make it!"

He looked into her eyes.

"I promise you he will," he told her, "And I'm just another version of him and you ought to know by now the Doctor _always_ keeps his word."

And in that moment she saw nothing but truth and reassurance in his eyes, and she looked at him gratefully.

"Thank you," she said in a hushed voice.

And as Ace saw the look that passed between them she felt a prickle of jealousy and wondered why, because Ed had done nothing more than reassure her, but some long standing bond between Rose Tyler and the Doctor seemed to spark to life in that moment and it left her feeling envious, but of what, she had no clue.

Then the Tardis reached its destination and even the familiar groan and wheeze sounded easier as he brought the Tardis to a smooth landing.

"How did you do that?" Rose said in surprise.

"I go easy on the brakes, unlike my many other incarnations of the past, I always did, because I'm the last Doctor and my Tardis is a very old girl, needed careful handling - and old habits die hard."

Rose briefly smiled.

"You'll have to teach him to handle her more gently," she said, looking down at the Tenth Doctor, "After a landing like that I bet she appreciated your gentle touch."

And Ace felt that sting of jealousy again, but quickly dismissed it.

The Ed turned away from the console and looked at Ace and Rose.

"Let's get him out of here," he said, "He needs that anti venom."

* * *

An hour later Rose sat in a waiting area at the end of a long white corridor saying nothing as she looked out at a landscape where lilac gems sparkled in sunlight on faraway hills.

"Are you okay?" Ace asked her quietly, and then she sat down next to her.

Rose ran her fingers through her fair hair and blinked away tears.

"I know your Doctor said he would be okay – but what if he's not? What if the anti venom doesn't work?"

"The poisons archive is massive," Ace replied, "Seriously, you could get lost down there – and it's full of antidotes. I don't doubt it's going to work, he collected all those cures to make sure his travels were safer. Ed told me Rick loved to explore tropical planets. That's probably when he started to collect the antidotes too."

Rose paused for a moment, and then she turned her head and looked into her eyes.

"_I really love him."_

And again Ace felt a prickle of envy.

"Who?"

"The Doctor. He was a different man when I first met him, then he regenerated and I got to know him all over again. You'd think that would be difficult, that it would take a long time, but it hasn't taken me long at all – I love him even more now."

And relief ran through her as Ace realised Rose was talking about the Tenth Doctor.

"Of course you do," she replied, "But I don't have all that to deal with – Ed can't regenerate. He's the last one."

"Does that worry you?"

"Not any more," Ace replied, ""The Tardis can't fly so we stay put on Earth. It's a lot safer, no nasty surprises around the corner to worry about. We live a quiet life."

"I can't imagine the Doctor ever wanting to do that," Rose replied,

"Give him a few more thousand years of wandering and he'll be ready to settle down," Ace told her, "He does in the end – with me, this is how he spends his last lifetime."

"Well I hope I have many years with my Doctor," Rose replied, "I couldn't imagine losing him, but obviously I do one day...or maybe I get old and die and he goes on without me – do you know what happens? What about Ed? He's the last Doctor, he must know _everything _about the future!"

Ace held up her hand.

"Stop that, Rose – I promise you, he doesn't remember much at all. He was trapped in the Tardis power core for a century after the great battle for Earth. Removing him from the core damaged his memory. He's lost a lot and he can never get it back."

Rose gave a sigh.

"This is crazy – he's a time traveller who can't remember the future!"

"And it's not his fault," Ace told her, "He almost died, Rose. I'm just thankful he's still here, I don't care if half his memories are missing, he's still the Doctor and he's still the man I fell in love with, nothing changes that."

And then a door opened further down the hall and Ed walked up to join Rose and Ace.

Rose got up and looked at him anxiously.

"Is he okay?"

"Yes, he's going to be fine," he told her, "The venom was sending his heart rate crazy – and with twin hearts that really can be difficult to control, but after he had the anti venom he started to improve. He's going to take several days to fully recover and he's still in a lot of discomfort so he's on pain relief and sedatives, he's going to spend most of the time sleeping until he feels better, but yes, he is going to make a full recovery."

"_Thank you so much!"_

Rose threw her arms around him, giving Ed a hug he was not expecting.

He put his arms around her and briefly hugged her too and then let go as he caught a spark of jealousy in the eyes of Ace McShane, and he wondered why, because she had no way of knowing that hug he had just received had made his hearts skip a beat as memories came rushing back at him of a life time lived so long ago...

"I want to see him," Rose said.

"Of course you can" he told her, "But the staff here told me he needs peace and quiet and rest, so you can't stay long."

And they walked together up the corridor.

* * *

"What are we going to do?" Ace asked, "I mean, if he's here for a few days, do we need to stay too? It seems a bit pointless if he's going to be resting all the time."

Rose looked at her sharply.

"I'm not leaving him!"

They reached the doorway and Ed paused, giving a weary sigh.

"Rose, please listen to me – he's out of danger, he just needs rest. He won't get much of that with you constantly at his side. Go and see him, reassure yourself that he's on the mend and then come with us – me and Ace are going back to Earth in the Tardis, we'll come back for him in five days when he's ready to leave."

Rose stared at him.

"You seriously think I'm going to leave him here on his own?"

"Rose, this is a medical facility. The town of Lilac is divided between two industries – medicine and mining. There are no hotels or guest houses between here and the next town and the only place you'll be sleeping is on a couch in the waiting area. Do you really want to do that for five nights when you know he's going to be perfectly all right?"

She shook her head.

"I'm not sure. All I know is, I need to see him, excuse me!"

And she pushed past him and went into the room where the Tenth Doctor lay in bed with an IV connected to his arm.

He was breathing much easier than she expected and his fever was fading away.

"Doctor," she whispered, and he slowly opened his eyes.

"Rose?"

She smiled.

"You're going to be okay. You need to rest here for a few days but you're going to be fine. And I'm staying right here -"

"No..." he said weakly, finding enough strength to grasp her hand, "Go back to Earth with him."

And he looked to the doorway where Ed stood with Ace.

"But I want to stay with you!"

"Rose, I need to rest. I have to sleep. Spend some time with that other me over there. Get to know Ace. I remember Ace..."

And as he looked at her he smiled, then he closed his eyes and gave a sigh.

"I just want to sleep... and I want to do it without worrying about you, okay?"

Rose blinked away tears.

"If that's what you want," she said reluctantly, "I'll do it."

And she leaned over him and kissed his cheek, but the gesture was lost to him as he slept soundly and deeply. Then Rose got up and left his bedside. She walked halfway across the room, turned back and looked at him again, and then she left the room and closed the door behind her.

"Okay," she said, "It's what he wants me to do – so I'll come back to Earth with you."

"It's for the best," Ed told her, "And you'll like my Tardis, it's even got a maze!"

"Sounds great," she said quietly, and then she turned for the exit and they left the facility together, as Ace silently decided she would go along too when Ed showed Rose around the maze. She was still feeling jealous, even a little insecure to see him in the company of Rose Tyler, but she was still not quite sure why...

* * *

When they got back to the Tardis Ace watched in silence as Ed set the co ordinates and took the Tardis on its return journey, handling the Tenth Doctor's with such ease that it seemed he had never been away from the controls.

Rose said nothing as she watched stars flash by, her thoughts were with the Tenth Doctor – and her heart too, at least, Ace hoped so, because she was still feeling a little uneasy about Rose being so close to Ed...

The Tardis landed gracefully and smoothly once more and the controls fell dark.

Ed paused to key in the return flight.

"Everything is set to go and pick him up again in five days," he told her, "Then he can drop us off back on Earth and you and him can be on your way."

And then he turned away from the console and headed for the door and Ace and Rose followed.

They stepped out into the woodland behind the house, and Ed indicated to the door set in the back of the brick wall.

"Right back where we started," he said, "All we have to do is go through that gate and we are home – in MY Tardis. She's unfolded into the house gardens and maze."

"But we won't be showing you the maze today," Ace said as Ed opened the gate.

"Why not?" he asked her.

"What's the rush?" Ace replied.

He caught a look of envy in her eyes again.

"There is no rush," he told her, and they went into the garden and Ace closed the gate behind them.

* * *

As they walked up the path towards the house, Rose slowed her pace, turning her head and looking over at the marble head stone beneath the shade of a willow tree.

"Who was Jayden Drake?"

"A very close friend and travelling companion. He died in the great battle to save Earth."

Rose frowned.

"This great battle – why did it happen, and when?"

And Ed hesitated.

"You are the companion of an old regeneration of me from many centuries back," he reminded her, "Too much information could be dangerous. I'm sorry, its for the best if I don't answer that question."

And Rose gave a sigh of frustration.

"You could at least tell me why you buried a friend in your garden, I mean, it's a bit weird, having a grave out here."

"Jayden was frozen in time moments from death," he said in a hushed voice, "The Tardis matrix could not bear to let him go. And we tried to bring him out of stasis and revive him but his wounds were too severe and he died, so she buried him here."

"Who did?"

"Idris. The matrix in human form."

"Why did she do that?"

Ed was growing weary of her questions.

"Because she loved him!"

His reply stunned her.

"Okay..." she said quietly, and then she said no more as they continued to walk back towards the house.

* * *

As they reached the back door Ace opened it and went inside, Ed followed but as the breeze picked up Rose hung back, pausing to sweep her hair off her face as she turned and looked back down the path towards the gate at the back of the garden that led to the woodland.

"Is something wrong?" Ed asked her.

She was still looking back.

"_Rose?"_

She turned back, feeling uncertain.

"I'm not sure," she replied, "I just got this weird feeling, like someone was out there, beyond the garden...watching us."

"You've been through a lot," Ed replied, "Come inside, you need rest and a strong cup of tea after they day you've had."

And she went inside, but he lingered for a moment, looking out towards the woodland beyond the house. He saw and felt nothing unusual, but he recalled Rose Tyler well enough to know that if she thought she felt something lurking, then she was probably right...


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Ace watched as Rose stood looking out of the window, she had pushed the curtain aside as she stood in the comfortable living room, her gaze fixed towards the back of the garden and the woodland beyond it.

"She's been standing there for ten minutes," Ace whispered to Ed as they stood together in the hallway, "Just looking out like she's watching something..."

"_Or someone," _Ed murmured, and then he wondered why he had said that.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing," he replied, "Leave this to me, you go and have a lie down, Ace. You look tired."

And he kissed her cheek and walked into the room, and then Ace turned away and headed up the stairs feeling certain he was right, she knew she could use some rest – she just hoped she could trust him with Rose Tyler – and she wasn't even sure why she was wondering about_ that..._

* * *

Ed stood in the middle of the front room and glanced at the half-finished tea on the coffee table that was growing cold. Rose had been in the house for an hour and had hardly spoken, the look in her eyes had been one of sadness as her thoughts remained with the Doctor far away on another planet. But now she stood at the window, her gaze still fixed beyond the garden.

"Rose?"

She turned sharply.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

Ed joined her at the window.

"What are you looking at?"

She turned from the window and and looked at him with wide eyes.

"I thought someone was out there. So I came over here to have a look. You did say there's just you me and Ace in the house, right?"

"That's right."

Her face paled.

"So there's no one else that should be here?"

No one, why?" he asked.

She drew in a slow breath and her voice dropped to a whisper.

"I thought someone was back there, watching us when we came in. I looked back and didn't see anyone, but then I went to the window and looked out again -"

Ed smiled.

"And of course no one was there, because it's just you, me and Ace in the house."

Rose still looked uneasy.

She pulled the curtain back further and pointed to the spot beneath the willow tree beside the grave of Jayden Drake.

"If we're supposed to be alone," she said, "Who's that?"

Ed stared at the sight of the stranger who stood over Jayden's grave. He wore a dark suit and his hair was fair, but that was all he could see, because the man's back was turned.

"I don't know who he is!" Ed said in surprise, "But I'm going to find out!"

* * *

Ace closed the bedroom door and kicked off her shoes and then lay back on the soft four poster bed where the pillows carried the scent of her lover's hair.

She gave a deep sigh and ran her hand over the thin fabric of her dress, and then her hand rested on her belly. She smiled as she thought how close she had come to telling him her secret before Rose had knocked on the door...

Love shone in her eyes as she thought of Ed, the final regeneration f the Doctor, a man who had fought for the Earth and paid a heavy price, who had lost everything and been trapped in the power core for a century.

She couldn't begin to imagine how he must have felt, existing within the walls of the Tardis as a hologram while his wounded body had been held in stasis. She was sure he had only coped so well because he was in his final regeneration – all those other lifetimes he had lived had certainly helped to lend him the strength he needed to get through the toughest century of his long, long life.

But life was brighter and better now, the past was behind him and they both had a future to look forward to. _And she would tell him soon, when the moment was right..._

Ace ran her hand over the tiny bump that was not yet noticeable and wondered how he would react to the news. She guessed he would be surprised to learn their first child had come along so quickly after all he had told her about the difficulties of inter species breeding... Then Ace wondered if their child would have twin hearts, and if they would have a son or a daughter.

She felt a warm glow of love as she thought of her centuries old Time lord, the man she had always been destined to spend her life with.

_"You're going to be a daddy, Doctor,"_ she said softly, and she smiled as she thought about a future that was yet to unfold.

* * *

Rose hurried to catch up with Ed as he went out into the garden.

_"Wait!"_

She caught his sleeve and he looked back at her.

"Why? He's an intruder, I want to know what he's doing here – and the first thing he's going to do is step right away from Jayden's grave!"

"But he could be dangerous!"

"Oh Rose, this is Earth! He's only human!"

Ed walked down the path, stopping halfway down the garden. Then Rose stood beside him, watching as the stranger continued to stand with his back to them, looking down at the grave of Jayden Drake.

"Who are you?" Ed demanded.

The man turned around.

His eyes sparkled as he flashed a smile and walked over to join them on the pathway.

"Long time no see, old friend!" he exclaimed, "And what a _great_ Tardis you have here!"

And he threw his arm wide and turned around, taking in a dizzy view of the garden and the house, turning with the agility of a dancer.

"An unfolded Tardis – grounded, fashioned into a house and garden in the countryside..._very_ nice!"

And then as he reached his side, he stepped closer and dropped his voice to a whisper.

"And something else, too – some kind of grand design below ground?"

"It's a maze," Ed replied, "But how do you know its there?"

"_My Tardis picked up on it."_

Rose stared at the young man in the dark suit.

"You have a Tardis? Only Time lords have a Tardis – and he's the last one -"

"Not exactly, not any more," Ed replied, "Long story, but many years down the line the Doctor ceases to be the only Time lord. And I can't tell you more, Rose. I don't want to risk it, sorry."

And she gave a sigh, feeling decidedly left out as the two men continued to talk together.

"I'm guessing you don't remember me?" the young man said.

Ed shook his head.

"I'm sorry, my memory suffered a great deal of damage due to the wounds I received in the battle for the Earth. I was in stasis for a long time..."

And then he fell silent, studying his face and struggling with shards of broken memories, as he wondered why the phrase _Vote Saxon_ ought to mean something to him...

"I feel as if I should recall you well – but I can't."

The man's smile faded.

"My Earth name is Harry, Harold Saxon. I've regenerated many times.. but unlike you, I can _choose_ my appearance when I regenerate. And I've used this one before, but I decided to use it again, I _like_ this face. And I've still got one more regeneration to go, too – I'm a little more careful than you, Doctor!"

And then he fell silent, watching and waiting for a spark of recognition in the Doctor's eyes, but saw none.

_"Nothing?"_ he exclaimed, "You don't remember me at all?"

"I'm sorry, but my memory was severely damaged. I'm sure I'll recall something of you eventually, but for now, its all blank."

The Master looked thoughtfully at the last regeneration of his old enemy. The sparkle in his eyes came across as a look of friendship and warmth and concealed his inner glee at the knowledge that he had indeed found the final regeneration of the Doctor – the one who recalled nothing of the past...

"I've come a long way to find you," he said, "I wanted to look up my old friend. I was hoping to stay for a couple of days but as you don't recall me I suppose I'd better be on my way -"

"No, I'd like you to stay," Ed said to him, "Who knows, perhaps in a couple of days I may remember you."

"I hope you do," he replied, "It would be nice if you could recall growing up with me on Gallifrey."

Then he glanced to Rose.

"It's a shame he can't remember. We used to be so_ very_ close. And you must be his wife?"

Rose shook her head.

"I'm with the other Doctor."

And the man who called himself Harold Saxon felt a bolt of fear shoot through him as he recalled his attempt to send a Tardis off course on the way to this time and place...

"Other Doctor?"

"I'm with an earlier regeneration of him," Rose said, "He's not here – he's on another planet, recovering from a snake bite. He's going to be okay, I'm going back for him in a few days."

"Until then she's staying here with me and Ace."

He stared at Ed.

_"Ace?"_ The name was familiar – he recalled Ace McShane from the Seventh Doctor's time line...

How had she come so far into the future to meet with his final regeneration?

He wanted an answer to that question and was sure he would get it, but his worries about being recognised faded rapidly as he remembered he was, in this life time, once again wearing the face and body of Harold Saxon. This Master was _not_ the one Ace would recall...

"Let's go inside, Mr Saxon," Ed said to him, "We need to talk about these old times – maybe you can fill in the blanks for me."

He smiled warmly.

"Call me Harry," he said, and then the three of them walked back down the path towards the house.

* * *

"So how long have you lived here?" asked Harold Saxon.

"Not long," Ed replied as they sat in the front room and Rose placed hot tea on the table.

Ace was still sleeping upstairs and Rose had felt strange sliding into her role so easily, being this Doctor's companion. She guessed she wouldn't have minded being companion in every sense of the word to the last Doctor, even if his Tardis could no longer fly – she was warming to Ed, and that thought made her feel more than a little guilty as she remembered the man she knew as the Doctor was so far away as he recovered from the snake bite...

"So tell me about the past," Ed said to Harry, "I have very little recollection of it."

And then he paused, glancing to Rose, who had fallen silent, and he noticed a troubled look in her eyes.

"Your Doctor is resting, he is recovering and you will see him soon. Please stop worrying, Rose. It's the last thing I would have wanted – I mean him, it's the last thing _he_ would want."

Rose forced a smile.

"You're right," she said, "I'll leave you two to catch up on old times. I might go upstairs for a while."

"Choose any room you like," Ed said to her, "The Tardis has probably sorted out a lovely room for you already."

And Rose smiled again, and this time her eyes shone with warmth.

"She probably has," she agreed, and then she left the room.

* * *

Now they were alone together, Ed looked across the coffee table at the man who sat in the comfortable armchair and tried to recall him, but still nothing would come to mind.

"You say we were good friends?"

Harry smiled.

"Oh yes, Doctor. Like brothers."

Then he caught a flicker of pain in the Doctor's eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked, "Something I said?"

And Ed paused, lost in his own thoughts, but was quickly brought back into the moment by Harry drumming his fingers on the table top in a rhythm.

"Sorry," Harry said, and stopped drumming his fingers even though the drumming continued inside his head.

"You look troubled, Doctor...I hope it wasn't something I said. I don't recall, but did you have a brother?"

"I did," he said quietly, and as he looked into his eyes Harry saw a haunted look about the Doctor.

"Tell me about him."

Ed drew in a deep breath as his twin hearts ached at the memory.

"_He wasn't blood but friendship can go as deep. I always thought of him as my brother. I sometimes think I'll never get over the death of Jayden Drake."_

And Harry's hand missed the china mug and sent it spilling hot tea across the glass coffee table. He jumped up from his seat and laughed nervously.

"Sorry, how clumsy of me! Jayden Drake... a companion, of course... I'll get something to clear this mess up."

And then he left the room abruptly.

Ed looked at the spilled tea, steam still rising from the spill that was spreading across the glass table top. He then looked towards the open door and wondered why Harry had become so jumpy at the mention of Jayden Drake, but those shards of memory were floating about in his damaged mind like shattered pieces of glass and it was impossible to make sense of any of it...

* * *

"_Sorry about that. I don't know why I wasn't more careful. I should have been more careful."_

Harold Saxon had not stopped apologising since he had spilled the tea. The spill was cleared up now, but clearly he still felt the need to apologise...

"Forgive me, Doctor. I can be clumsy sometimes. One of my many flaws."

Harry leaned back against the armchair, ran his hand over his fair hair and laughed nervously.

"It's the story of my life...not thinking it out carefully enough, being too careless...I should have learned by now..."

He was sweating as he rubbed his hands together and then briefly smiled.

"Right...where was I? Oh yes.. your friend – your close, _dear_ brother of a friend Jayden Drake. The man buried in your garden – what was _so_ special about him?"

Ed looked at him intently. That question had been asked in a voice filled with tension, but as Harry looked at him he smiled and once again his manner was warm and friendly.

"Sorry, Doctor – I'm not very good at handling sensitive subjects. If you don't want to talk about him -"

"Of course I do," Ed replied, "But it's still painful even after all these years. He died in the great battle."

Harry laughed softly as he shook his head.

"You had to go and do it again, sacrificing everything for Earth... Did you sacrifice Jayden too? Did you send him off to his death? How could you have done that?"

His words had hit him hard. It had been years since the Doctor had been accused of bringing death and destruction in his wake, but Harry was managing to make that accusation with a pleasant smile on his face...

"I'm not sure what you mean by that," Ed told him, "Jayden chose to fight, I didn't ask him to join me."

Then sadness reflected in his eyes as he recalled the explosion that saw Jayden fatally wounded.

"An enemy ship blew a hole in our side – shattered the Tardis defence systems and Jayden was caught in the blast. My wife Barbara was also killed in the battle. I lost everything."

Harry paused, and then he nodded in agreement.

"I've lost heavily too, Doctor," he replied, "I know how it feels, to have hopes and dreams shattered, to lose everything and everyone..."

"Then it seems we have much in common," Ed replied, "It makes perfect sense that we would have been such close friends."

The Master looked across the table at his oldest enemy and decided this Doctor with no memory of their past battles would be easy to kill. Then he wondered how much of his grounded Tardis could be salvaged, and then there was the other Doctor's Tardis, perhaps it would be in better condition than his own ageing and ailing machine...so many choices to make, and once the Doctor was out of the way, he could make those decisions at his leisure...

"You'll have to show me around the functional area of your Tardis before I leave," he added, "It's been centuries since I've seen the inner workings of another ship like my own. And I shall show you around my Tardis. Maybe we should compare notes."

Ed smiled.

"That sounds like a good idea," he replied warmly, "I would love to show you around, Harry."

And the Master smiled back at him, feeling a sense of smug satisfaction at how easy it would be to carry out his plans now the Doctor no longer recalled him...

* * *

Rose Tyler sat on a chair by the window in a bedroom patterned with floral wallpaper and took her mobile phone from her pocket.

The Doctor could reach her on this phone from anywhere in time and space, and right now, all she wanted to hear was the sound of an incoming call, but the phone stayed silent.

She gave a sigh and put the phone back in her pocket, remembering the Doctor needed to rest, and there would be no point calling him because his own phone would be switched off.

But her heart was aching as she recalled how she had felt as she had turned away and walked out of that room and left him all alone. Now he was far away and the distance was physically painful every time she thought about just how far apart they were.

She thought again about the fact that his phone was off.

"But it won't hurt to leave him a message," she said quietly, and she took the phone out again and called him, hitting speed dial.

The number rang for a short while and then switched to voice mail.

"_This is the Doctor,"_ he said, _"Sorry I'm not here to take your call, leave me a message."_

And as she heard a beep, Rose drew in a sharp breath. Just hearing his voice made her feel tearful all over again as she was once more reminded of the distance that separated them.

"I just wanted to call you, " she said, "I know you won't get this message until you're feeling better and you switch your phone back on so it's a bit pointless to call you just to say I miss you, but I just did...that's all I wanted to say...I hope you're doing okay, and I'll see you soon."

And then she ended the call and put the phone back in her pocket.

"_I miss you,"_ she whispered as she sat alone, _"That's all I really wanted to say, that I miss you , Doctor... I miss you more than you know."_

* * *

Ed had left Harry to finish a second cup of tea, and then he had gone upstairs intending to check on Ace.

He felt mildly concerned as he wondered why she had seemed so tired that day – but Harold Saxon's arrival had shifted his concerns to other subjects, mainly to a past he could not recall...

He felt as if he ought to know him, he ought to recall something about him – and perhaps he would, in time. But as he reached the top of the stairs and saw the half open doorway leading into the room where Rose Tyler sat alone by a window, all thoughts of Ace and his mysterious visitor left him as a wave of nostalgia hit him, painfully reminding him of a life lived out long ago, and his twin hearts ached for all that might have been:

_He had loved Rose._

_They had come so close, until circumstances had torn them apart..._

He wanted to speak to his Tenth self when he saw him again, to give him a simple message:

_Just tell her you love her, don't wait, say it while you still have time..._

But what would that achieve?

He knew better than to tinker with the order of events in his own complicated time line, too much would be at stake...

It was a gamble he could not afford to risk, but as he approached the doorway, his hearts still ached for the past as he saw her sitting there by the window, her fair hair shimmering like gold in the light of the fading sun.

"Rose?"

She turned her head and looked at him, and his twin hearts missed a beat. He had long ago thought her lost to him, he had not considered that one day the time streams would cross like this.

_It felt like a second chance._

_And he was thankful for his many lives and the wisdom he had learned along the way, because he knew better than to try and change the past..._

"Are you all right?" he asked her as he entered the room.

Rose nodded.

"Yeah, I have to be. I know he's going to be okay, I just have to remember that and stop worrying. But it's not easy."

"Of course its not. You care about him, I know you do."

She looked into his eyes and in that moment he felt as if centuries and many other lifetimes had fallen away.

"Of course I care about him. But like I said, I just have to remember he's going to be okay. He wouldn't want me to be sitting here worrying like this."

"I wish I could remember more of my Tenth life, when I was him," Ed replied, "But I only recall pieces. I'm glad I remember you, how I felt about you, I -"

He froze, sharply pulling back those words he never got the chance to say on the day he left her weeping at Bad Wolf Bay.

"How_ did_ you feel about me?" she asked him.

Ed smiled.

"I do recall I was very fond of you, Rose. But if you want to know more you should ask him, _your _Doctor, because my memory is very hazy."

She smiled too and her eyes sparkled.

"So you never forgot me, all these lifetimes later and you still recall me?"

"Yes, I do. Thankfully when my memory was restored, I still had some memories of you. I'm thankful for that and I always will be."

Then Ed fell silent as he looked at Rose, a lost love from a lifetime long gone as he felt as if he may as well have been having a conversation with a ghost. There was so much he wished he could have said, but back then, in his Tenth life – but those days were gone and those words would never be spoken, at least not by the Doctor...

"I'll show you around the maze tomorrow," he told her, "You'll like it – Ace loves it in there. It's a wonderful place, like worlds within worlds."

"That should take my mind off worrying about the Doctor," she said, "Thanks, I'll look forward to it."

"Me too," he replied, and then he left the room, remembering his reason for coming up here in the first place was Ace McShane, _not_ Rose Tyler...

* * *

"_Oi!"_

Ed turned sharply to see Ace standing in the hallway and looking much better for her short nap. She smiled as she walked up to him and then she slid her arms around him.

"What were you doing in that bedroom with Rose Tyler?"

His eyes widened.

"Nothing! I was talking to her, that's all -"

And then Ace laughed and he realised he had not needed to reply to that question so defensively.

"I think," Ace said quietly, "You used to have a thing for her back in your Tenth life."

"Does it matter if I did? That was a very long time ago! Ace, I'd never -"

She put a finger to his lips and smiled.

"_It's okay, I'm not jealous," _she told him, _"Rose is your past. But I'm your present and your future, and I'm having your baby."_

Ed stared at her.

Ace smiled, watching as her words sunk in.

"You're pregnant?"

"That's right Doctor, you're going to be a daddy."

He blinked as tears of joy blurred his vision.

"That's wonderful!" he told her, and he drew her into his arms and kissed her, then they stood together in the hallway, embracing tightly.

And the Master remained in the spot where he had been standing half way up the stairway, listening as the conversation unfolded:

_The Doctor was going to be a father?_

Rage burned in the Master's eyes as he gripped the polished stair rail so tightly his knuckles turned white, and then a look of pure evil darkened his features as he looked up the stairs to the place where the Doctor and Ace stood embracing:

_Oh yes, revenge would indeed be very sweet this time around, and it seemed the timing was perfect for it, too.._.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The next morning had turned out bright and warm and Rose had got up early, intending to go back to the Tardis to pack a bag for her short stay at the house – otherwise she would have needed to go back and forth to the Tardis, and she hated the idea because every time she walked in there, she would expect to see the Doctor, and his absence would make her heart ache all over again...

But as she crossed the lawn she slowed her pace, feeling a little guilty that the grave in the garden continued to give her the creeps as she stopped, looked at the inscription, and wondered how this future version of the Doctor and his girlfriend, could bear to live in a place that had a body buried in the garden.

Then she walked over to the spot beneath the willow tree and took a closer look at the white marble headstone.

The words _Jayden Drake : HERO_ was etched into the marble.

She saw a switch marked _Entrance_ at the side of the monument and frowned as she wondered... Where would it lead to? Then she looked down at the ground in front of the grave stone and noticed the two panels that matched the marble were suspiciously like doors...

"I _really _don't want to do this..." she murmured, as curiosity got the better of her and she slowly reached out and hit the switch.

The panels slid back revealing a brightly lit stairway, the walls and steps were made of stone and the bright lighting was not what she had expected – she had guessed this place would be dark and creepy but clearly not, it was lit as brightly as many of the rooms in her own Doctor's Tardis...

Rose drew in a deep breath and looked left and right, saw no one watching and then began to climb down the stairway into the room beneath the grave stone.

As she reached the last stair she froze, seeing a small room as brightly lit as the stair way, and at the back of this room was a body, it was on a raised platform and sealed in what appeared to be glass.

_"This is weird..."_ she whispered, and then she walked over to the body in the glass coffin and stood there, looking down at the sight of the Doctor's closest friend, preserved in death as he would have been in life:

He wore a dark blue Edwardian suit and his fair hair was neatly combed. His left eye was covered with a steel eye patch and as she pressed her hand against the cold glass and looked closer, she saw no sign of injury on the corpse of Jayden Drake. His face did not even have the usual pallor she expected to see about a dead body, he looked frozen – perhaps at the moment, or moments after death, and as she looked at him she shifted her gaze to his chest, half expecting to see it rise and fall even though she knew he was dead, and then she concluded the mortician must have done a very good job on this man, because he certainly did _not_ look as if he had died in an explosion...

"So this is Jayden Drake," she said quietly, "The Doctor's best friend."

And then she stepped back, noticing an inscription across the lower half of the coffin where glass met polished wood. She saw the swirls and realised something had been written on it in Gallifreyan.

"I wonder what it says?" she murmured.

"Brother. It says, _Brother._"

Rose caught her breath as she turned sharply to see Harold Saxon standing at the bottom of the stairway, he briefly smiled as he walked over to her, and even though he had claimed to be an old friend of the Doctor's, Rose took a step back, then wondered why she felt the need to back away from him like that...

"I didn't hear you come in."

"I saw the entrance was open so I thought I'd have a look. We're not doing anything wrong, this is an open crypt, there's no lock on the outer doors."

And then he fell silent for a moment as he looked at the body of Jayden Drake, resting beneath glass on a padded bed of silk.

"So this is the great man the Doctor called a brother...except he's _not,_ he was just a scientist and part time inventor until his Earth colony planet was plunged into civil war. Then he became a soldier. The Doctor met him a year after the war ended when the city was being rebuilt and Jayden was working on the development of computerised hot air balloons. So there you have it – he's just another human. Not from Gallifrey, just some eccentric inventor who fought in a civil war on an Earth colony planet that messed up its own politics and wrecked its environment in the war that followed. _No one special. _The brother inscription seems a bit exaggerated – no doubt the Doctor felt guilty when Jayden died in the great battle for Earth, here's another one who died because of him, because of the Doctor..."

Confusion clouded her eyes as she looked at Harold Saxon.

"That's not a nice thing to say about a good friend...are you sure that's what you really are?"

He smiled briefly and then his smile faded and the look in his eyes was impossible to read.

"Oh yes," Harry said quietly, "Me and the Doctor go back a_ long_ way."

"So how do you know all this about Jayden? You knew nothing about him yesterday."

"I looked him up through my Tardis data bank," he replied, "I read all about the _very_ ordinary Mr Drake."

The look in his eyes was still unreadable...bitter, perhaps? Rose still felt slightly uneasy.

"But he was the Doctor's best friend, you can't talk about him like he was nothing."

"He didn't matter," Harry replied, "Just another human. Certainly not worthy of a Gallifreyan inscription or the name of brother."

"Well obviously the Doctor thought he was worthy."

The Master looked at Rose and the expression on his face softened.

"Of course," he agreed, "But we know what the Doctor's like – _so_ fond of humans. I can take them or leave them."

"So you obviously don't share his love for Earth, then?"

"I've seen many planets and many species," Harry replied, "Earth holds no special place in my heart."

And then he fell silent, recalling his human wife Lucy, who had helped him to fake his death after the Tenth Doctor had defeated him...but when he had regenerated, she had seen the man she loved disappear and another take his place, and he had woken alone in his hiding place, the only human who had ever loved him had abandoned him...

"_I have nothing more to say about Earth," _he said in a hushed voice.

"We should go back to the surface," Rose replied, "I don't like it down here, it's creepy."

And she quickly walked across the floor, passing him as she hurried for the stairway.

"Rose -"

She looked back sharply,.

"What?"

He smiled again.

"_Wait for me."_

Rose said nothing in reply as she went quickly up the stairs, climbing out into the garden as she breathed a relieved sigh and stood on lush green grass and saw blue skies lit by sunshine. Birds sung in the trees and somewhere below that she heard the familiar hum of the Tardis, reminding her this was no ordinary garden.

It felt so good to be back in the fresh air, and so close to the house, too – as the doors to the crypt closed and he said something about breakfast Rose gave no reply as she walked on towards the house, feeling unsure which had been the worst – being down there with the body of Jayden Drake, or being alone with Harold Saxon...

* * *

Ace rolled over in warm sheets and gave a sigh as her lover gently kissed her and ran his hands down her body.

"Good morning Ace," he whispered, and then he kissed her again.

She wrapped her arms around him and looked into his eyes.

Ed smiled.

"I still can't believe it! You're pregnant?"

And Ace laughed.

"Is it still sinking in? Well you've got time to get used to the idea...I think it's nine months..._Is_ it nine months for a baby Time Lord?"

"Yes it will be, and the baby is going to be _half_ Time Lord... I'm not quite sure what that will mean yet, depends if it takes after you or me – it could have enough of my DNA to be capable of regeneration, or maybe not. That's a bit of a lottery."

As Ed sat up so did Ace, and she ran her fingers through her hair and looked at him in surprise.

"I wasn't thinking _that_ far ahead – my own child regenerating one day, I'm just thinking about the baby arriving!"

"Well I think you should take it easy and stay in bed for a while," he told her, "Now I know you're pregnant I intend to look after you! I'll make breakfast, and then I''ll show Rose around the maze. You can stay here and rest."

Ace raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, so there _is_ something more to this plan to _be nice to Ace._.. still fancy Rose, do you?"

And then she laughed as she saw the look of shock on his face.

"Ace I told you -"

"I know, I was joking! I expect you'll take Harry along too."

"Of course I will, Rose _and _Harold Saxon. I'll show then the maze together."

Ace rested back against soft pillows and smiled.

"That's okay, then. I'll trust you..."

She caught that look again and laughed a second time.

"Don't be silly, Ed! Of course I trust you!"

He leaned closer and looked into her eyes.

"I'm going to get dressed, bring you breakfast in bed and then I'm showing Rose _and_ Harry around the maze, okay?"

The look in her eyes softened.

"Okay," she said, and he kissed her and she slid her arms around him, pulling him closer as their kiss deepened, but then Ed let go.

"You stay here and rest," he told her again, "Let me take care of our guests."

* * *

A short while later Ed met with Rose and Harold Saxon and they walked together down the path towards the concealed door at the back of the garden that led to the maze.

"... And there are four zones," Ed was saying as they approached the hidden door, "Aztec, Futuristic, Medieval and Ocean. As I said before, the Tardis has created worlds within worlds."

"Ed?"

They stopped walking.

"Yes, Rose?"

She glanced over at the site of Jayden's grave, then looked back at him as guilt flickered in her eyes.

"_I'm really sorry,"_ she said, _"But I went down to the crypt."_

And Harry tutted and muttered something under his breath as he turned away. Rose ignored him as she stood there looking apologetically at Ed.

"I'm sorry," she said again, "but I was curious, I just wanted to see -"

"It's more than I've done," Ed replied, showing no hint of offence at her actions, "I've yet to visit the crypt. How does he look?"

Rose frowned.

"I'm not really sure – he doesn't look dead, more like he's sleeping. He doesn't look like he was killed in an explosion, there's no sign of injury – he looks presentable, if that's what you want to know."

Her description surprised him.

"I'd imagined he would have looked something like I remembered after he died...it was a terrible death, big hole blown in his side...now I know that doesn't show I might go down and see him. _But not today._.."

And he turned his head and looked towards the grave, lost in his his own thoughts, but swiftly turned back to Rose and Harry, and his mood instantly brightened as he pushed aside memories of Jayden's death.

"Where was I – oh yes, the maze -"

"We're _both _sorry, "Rose added, "We shouldn't have gone down there without asking..."

"We?" Ed repeated.

And Harry gave a sigh.

"Yes, both of us went down there. I saw the crypt doors open and I went inside too. It's a fine tomb for your lost companion, but it does seem a bit exaggerated. _Brother, in Gallifreyan? He wasn't a Time Lord, he was a lowly Earth colonist – a nobody._"

Ed's eyes burned with anger as he glared at Harold Saxon.

"It surprises me greatly that I could be close friends with someone who thinks so little of humans. _You ought to know how I feel about all forms of life in this universe – everyone is important, every life matters to me!_"

Harry held his hands up and stepped back, laughing as he tried to salvage the situation.

"Of course, how could I forget? It's just me, being insensitive... What I meant to say was, you gave him a resting place fit for Gallifreyan royalty...it seemed a little too grand for a mere human being."

Ed drew in a slow breath as he pulled back on his anger, giving Harry a second chance.

"It seems our opinions differ on many things. Perhaps I wouldn't have reacted with such anger if my memory was intact. And you didn't know Jayden Drake. If you had known him, you may have understood my reasons."

"Maybe," Harry replied, and then he avoided his gaze as he looked downward and said no more on the subject.

Ed turned to Rose and changed the subject.

"Would you like to see the maze?"

Rose smiled.

"I'd love to see it," she replied, and Ed activated a hidden switch set in the wall and the door to the maze slid back.

* * *

Ed went into the maze and Rose and Harry followed, walking down a stairway that led to a metallic corridor. As they reached the end of the corridor where a room opened up into a wide area where other corridors led off, Ed stood beside an old computerised console and turned to his companions once more.

"Welcome to the maze," he said, "During this tour I will guide you through four zones, worlds within worlds created by the Tardis. Each zone contains games rooms for your amusement -"

"_That is not a real console, it looks like a piece of space junk."_

Ed glanced at the console and then looked back at Harry.

"It probably is! The Tardis has collected objects through out time and space to create the zones, and the futuristic zone is mostly made up of space junk. She likes to recycle."

Rose smiled, but Harry did not.

"Why did your Tardis create this maze?"

"For me," Ed told Harry, "After I was wounded in the great battle for Earth, I was held in stasis by the Tardis power core while my mind wandered free in a hologram body. The Tardis created the maze to keep me busy, to stop me from going mad. I was trapped in the core for a century, but then Ace came along and freed me."

The Master forced a smile.

"_How sweet..."_

And Rose noticed coldness in his voice as she glanced at Harold Saxon, and wondered again if he really was the good friend of the Doctor that he claimed to be...

"But I don't want to talk about the past," Ed added, "I want to show you around the maze. Oh, there is one more thing – Barbara. She's the voice of the Tardis, a program I created in memory of my late wife. She's interactive."

And he looked upwards.

"Good morning, Barbara."

"Good morning Edward," the voice replied warmly, "So good to see you. And you have brought friends this time..."

Harry smirked.

"Very nice, Doctor. A flirty computer that sounds like your late wife. Does Ace approve?"

"Ace gets along very well with Barbara!" he replied.

"She doesn't mind that you keep a part of Barbara with you?"

"I told you, she's fine about it!"

Harry shrugged.

"Okay, I just wondered, that's all..."

And as he looked at Ed, Rose sensed tension building between the two Time lords.

"I'm really looking forward to seeing the maze," she said, "Where are we going first?"

"This way," Ed replied, and he led them down a corridor where exposed wiring sparked and popped.

* * *

"Is that safe?" Rose asked as they paused by a closed door.

Ed looked up the corridor, noticing the partly exposed wiring still sparked.

"Everything in the maze is safe," he promised her, "But those wires are only supposed to do that when we pass them..."

And he looked upwards.

"Barbara, are the sparking wires functioning correctly?"

"All programs are functioning normally -"

Her soft voice was cut off by the hiss of static.

"What's wrong?" Rose asked, and she followed Ed to the entrance that led to the corridor, where they both stood watching as wires continued to spark and static hissed.

"Barbara," said Ed, "Can you hear me?"

And as Rose and Ed stood there, the Master remained beside the closed door, his back to the wall as his eyes grew wider as he heard a rhythm creeping through the static...

Now he had heard it he could not shut it out, the sound that had haunted him all his life:

_The sound of drums..._

He drew in a shallow breath as he tried to block out the relentless drum beats.

"Harry?"

He blinked and the static hiss faded out and the drums fell silent. Ed and Rose were standing there staring at him.

"Are you okay?" Rose asked.

He straightened up and moved away from the wall.

"Sorry... but that sound was so loud...did you hear it?"

"The static?" replied Ed, "We both heard it. Barbara said there was a break in the audio transmission, a glitch with the sound system. It seems to be working now."

Harry's face had turned pale.

"No, the other sound...like drum beats. Did you hear it?"

Rose shook her head.

"All I heard was static."

And in the damaged memory of the last Doctor something fell into place, enough to make him wonder why he ought to worry that Harold Saxon was talking about drums... But the reason why he ought to worry about it escaped him.

"Drums?" he repeated, "No, Harry – I only heard static."

And then he looked intently at the man he did not recall, who claimed to be his friend, and wondered why he looked so pale and shaken up.

"It was just a programming glitch, the Tardis has fixed it now."

And then Ed addressed the voice of the Tardis once more.

"Barbara, can you explain the exact cause of the audio breakdown?"

"_The cause you seek is Idris, Edward."_

His eyes grew wider as he spoke again to the voice of the Tardis.

"_Idris? _Why? I don't understand."

"Transmission of interactive audio was broken by the Tardis Matrix, no further explanation is available to my programming."

"Thank you," Ed replied, and as he looked back at his companions, Rose noticed he seemed a little worried about something.

"What's Idris?" she asked him.

He shook his head.

"It doesn't concern you. It's just a Tardis function."

"I've never heard of it before," added Harry as he looked at him with suspicion.

"It doesn't matter," Ed replied dismissively, "Let's get on with the tour – I want to show you around the maze."

"But I want to know what Idris is," Harry said to him, "Why won't you explain? What does it have to do with the Tardis Matrix?"

"There's no time," he replied, "Maybe later."

And then he turned to Rose and smiled.

"Would you like to play a game?"

And as she smiled and her eyes lit up, once again his twin hearts ached as he recalled another lifetime and his lost love so long ago.

"I would love to play a game!" she told him.

The Master remained silent, still chilled by the sound that had stirred up memories that threatened to wake his sleeping madness...

_How had the Tardis done that? _

_Did it know who he really was?_

He drew in a slow breath as he willed his hands to stop shaking. The sound of drums rarely fell silent inside his head once it started, even after all these years, the sound had never truly left him alone...

* * *

Ed entered a code on a pad beside the door and it slid open.

"You've got three minutes to get the crystal," he told her, "And if you don't win, I _won't _lock you in because you're Rose Tyler!"

And he winked and then caught a sparkle in her eyes that once again took him back to his Tenth regeneration, and then she went into the games room and he closed the door behind her.

"I wonder if she can do it?" he said as he went over to a monitor and watched as Rose stood inside the games room.

"Are you okay in there, Rose?" he asked as he watched her through the monitor.

"I know what to do," she called back, as she stood balancing on a network of metal pipes and reached for a wooden board, "I have to make this plank of wood fit and use it to get across the room, the crystal is on the other side under a glass cover."

And Ed looked back at Harry.

"Come over here and watch Rose – I think she can do this!"

And then he noticed Harry was looking troubled.

"Is something wrong? You haven't looked right since you heard that static."

He shook his head.

"I feel strange... I think I'm getting a headache. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

But he still looked worried, and Ed felt concerned.

"I always take great care of any visitors who choose to explore the maze," he told him, "Would you like me to take you back to the surface?"

"No, it was just that sound I heard...shook me up a bit, hearing the drums."

"Drums..." Ed repeated thoughtfully, "I feel that ought to mean something to me but I don't know what it should mean, the memory isn't there."

Harry looked into the eyes of the man who had been his enemy for countless centuries and calmly lied as he gave his reply.

"I have no idea either," he replied, "And we are both old Time lords, Doctor. My memory isn't perfect, either. I have no idea what the drums could mean."

And then Rose knocked on the closed door of the games room. Ed unlocked it and Rose jumped out with a big smile on her face.

"I got it!" she exclaimed, holding up a glittering crystal, "Can I keep it?"

Ed smiled as he took the crystal from her hand and placed it in his pocket.

"Rose, I would love to give you one of these crystals – but they belong to the Tardis, they boost her energy. The crystals have to stay in the maze."

"Well at least I won the game," she said brightly.

Ed turned to Harry.

"Would you like to play a game?"

He shook his head.

"Not right now, let's just get on with the tour," he replied quietly.

"Then I'll take you through to the next zone," Ed told him, and then he took hold of Rose's hand and they hurried up the corridor towards a lift.

And the Master followed on behind, still feeling disturbed as the memory of the drum beats heard through static echoed inside his head.

As he followed them he began to formulate a plan:

_Rose seemed like a resourceful girl, he would have to deal with her first._

_Then he would persuade the Doctor to take him to the Tardis control centre, and kill him._

_And then,before he salvaged all working parts from the Doctor's ageing time machine, he would go back to the house and pay a visit to the lovely Ace, who was all alone..._

_The plan was perfect._

Then he heard Ed call to him to hurry up and he quickened his pace, heading for the lift, and as he walked towards it, the Master had a smile on his face.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

As Ed closed the lift door he looked to Rose and Harry.

"If we go up it leads to the entrance to the Aztec Zone. But if we went down, we would find ourselves beneath the maze in the vast poisons archive built by the previous Doctor."

"And that could be useful..." murmured the Master, but Ed barely noticed as he looked to Rose.

"There's another area under the maze?" she said in surprise.

"Of course there is, the Tardis is vast! It's full of worlds within worlds."

And he activated a switch and the lift ascended to the upper floor.

"Now we climb down," he said, opening the lift door.

Rose looked down into the Aztec zone and laughed.

"Climb? I can handle a faster way."

And Ed's eyes sparkled as he recalled his adventures in another life with Rose Tyler.

"I'm sure you can," he said warmly.

She grabbed a nearby hanging vine and swung with ease to the ground below.

Ed and Harry had started to climb down the wall as she stood there on sandy ground and looked around at the ancient ruins and listened to the sound of tropical birds singing in the trees.

"This place is amazing!" she exclaimed.

As the Master reached ground level, he looked to Ed.

"In what area are the technical workings of the Tardis kept, Doctor? Where has the sly old girl hidden them?"

"Beyond the Ocean zone," Ed replied, "There is a stairway that leads to the inner mechanics of the ship and ultimately the power core. It's a very large area, filled with complicated machinery, and while I realise you are familiar with the workings of your own time machine, you are _not_ familiar with _my _Tardis, so I'm afraid I can't allow you to go in there – or Rose. But we can visit the upper maintenance platform, I'll show you the way later on."

"_Show me now."_

That had sounded more like a demand than a request.

Ed turned to Rose.

"I'll take you through to the Ocean zone, then to the platform, then we can carry on with the tour of the maze. How does that sound?"

She shrugged.

"I really don't mind, I'm enjoying myself. I'm just trying not to notice a certain person and their constant desire to take over the tour."

And she shot Harry a stony glance.

"I only said I wanted to see the Tardis machinery!" he said, "Why shouldn't I do that? I have my own Tardis and its design is basic compared to this one!"

Rose gave a sigh.

"It's up to the Doctor. Not me."

"Let's go to the Ocean zone," Ed decided, "From there we can access the hidden Tardis area. I know a short cut from here."

* * *

Several tunnels and a flight of stairs later, they reached the Ocean zone.

As Rose looked down a grand stairway that was flanked by stone statues she saw they were now in the heart of what had been a once grand ocean liner. She gave a gasp of amazement as her gaze shifted to port holes where beyond, fish swam in murky depths.

"We're actually under water!" she exclaimed.

"Yes we are," Ed told her, "This is the SS Atlantis, the ship was sunk way back in the early twentieth century."

"And they never found the wreckage," Harry said.

Ed smiled.

"The Tardis did. She gathered up the ship and the water that surrounded it and created the Ocean zone."

"How come its not flooded?" Rose wondered.

"Air pockets," Ed replied, "When the Tardis took her on board, much of the ship was still intact."

"This place is amazing!" Rose said, and then as a small black cat brushed against her legs she stroked it and the cat looked up with emerald eyes and purred loudly.

"Thats Starbuck," Ed told her, "The ship's cat."

Then the cat ran off down the stairway and leapt on to an old sofa, where it curled up, continuing to watch the visitors as it sank down on the soft chair.

"And the Tardis has added many games rooms -"

"_Where's the entrance to the Tardis engines?"_

"Just down there, Harry, down the stairs and behind the door in the corner, beside that large port hole. We will have to pass through a water tight tunnel to get to the working part of the Tardis, but we have plenty of time, let's do that later."

And Harry smiled.

"Later sounds good to me Doctor. Right now I want to see if Rose can get another crystal."

And Rose looked at him in surprise.

"I pretty sure I can!"

"Go for it," Harry replied, and he smiled but Rose looked at him suspiciously as she wondered why he was so keen to send her into a games room all of a sudden...

"If you've got a preference for a favourite type of game the Tardis has created options," Ed told her, "The games are in four categories – mental, physical, skill or mystery."

"I'll try a skill game," Rose told him.

And he took her by the hand and led her down the stairway then across the room to a closed door.

"You have two and a half minutes," he told her, "Sink three ships to get the crystal."

And then he opened the door and she went inside and the Master smiled as Ed locked the door behind her – _Rose Tyler was now out of the way..._

* * *

Inside the games room, Rose was watching a screen as an image of a ship passed through it.

"This is gonna be fun!" she said, and continued to watch the ship's progress before hitting a button, then as the torpedo travelled along the screen and hit the ship, she laughed.

"Easy! One down, two to go!"

Then she watched as a second ship appeared, and prepared to hit the target. The second torpedo missed and she swore under her breath.

"Keep trying," Ed called to her, "You've still got two minutes."

Then he turned away from the window of the games room.

"I can see her winning this one easily -"

Ed stopped, looking around, seeing no sign of Harold Saxon.

"Harry?" he called out, walking away from the games room.

And then he saw him across the other side of the room, opening up the door that led to the water tight tunnel.

"Don't go in there!" he called out, but Harry just smiled as he opened up the heavy door.

"Try and stop me, Doctor!" he said, and he laughed as he stepped inside.

In the games room, he heard Rose complain loudly as she missed another ship.

"How am I doing for time, Doctor?" she called out.

Ed thought quickly:

_Harold Saxon needed to be stopped, and while he remembered Rose had proved to be a capable companion in his Tenth regeneration, he had no intention of placing her in danger now..._

"Doctor?" she called again,"How long do I have?"

He glanced at the timer on the wall that was counting down to zero.

"You've still got just under two minutes," he said quickly, "Rose, I have to go and check on something...keep trying for that crystal."

And then he ran across the carpeted lounge of the SS Atlantis and went through the doorway that led into the hidden tunnel.

* * *

"_Stop!" _he yelled, and further up the tunnel, Harold Saxon stopped walking and turned around.

Ed began to walk towards him, feeling confused as the man who had claimed to be an old friend stood by the ladder that led to the Tardis control centre. His expression had changed to one of malice, and was still darkening as a look of evil glittered in his eyes.

"What are you doing in here?" Ed demanded, "I told you its dangerous in there, the Tardis machinery is vast and complicated – it's all redesigned since the ship unfolded!"

A slow smile spread across Harold Saxon's face.

"Do you know what your biggest problem is, Doctor? You're too nice! I said was a friend and you wanted to believe me!"

Ed stared at him, seeing him for the first time as he really was, his eyes shone with pure evil...

"Who are you?" he said in a hushed voice.

"_The Master," _he replied, "Does that name ring any bells, Doctor, do you remember me now?"

And as the name sank into his shattered memory, many faces flashed to mind along with painful recollections of old rivalry and many battles, they had fought a bitter war across time and space ever since the beginning of everything that ever was...

_Yes, he remembered him now._

_And he finally understood why Idris had broken though Barbara's audio to send the drum beats – a warning, something to remind him of the insane Time lord who had always been his worst enemy..._

Anger flashed in the Doctor's eyes as he looked at his old rival.

"Harold Saxon...of course, you used that name – and that face – once before. Did you think I would be an easy target, the last Doctor with no memory of our long standing feud?"

And he stepped closer.

The Master laughed.

"Yes, I did, and I was right! And I'm going to rip your Tardis apart for spares, steal the Tenth Doctor's police box too and then leave – but I might do something _else_ before I go...I'm not sure yet, I can't decide which one I prefer, Rose, or Ace."

Rage burned in Ed's eyes.

"_If you touch either of them, I'll kill you!"_

Amusement danced in the Master's eyes.

"No you won't, because there's one difference between us, Doctor..."

"I'm not insane like you?" Ed said darkly.

"True," the Master replied as his eyes sparkled playfully, "But that's not what I mean."

And the look in his eyes turned to one of pure ice.

"_The difference between us is, I have a gun," _he added, and he pulled a laser pistol from his pocket and shot him.

* * *

The blast from the laser pistol threw him to the floor. As Ed opened his eyes and felt a pain in his shoulder, he knew at once the weapon had been set to stun – but all the same, it still caused debilitating shock, even to a Time lord...

The Master stood over him and laughed as he put the pistol back in his pocket.

"I bet you wasn't expecting that!" he said gleefully, "I'm full of surprises! And this, Doctor, is fair! It's _very _fair because you owe me, and now I'm collecting!"

Ed struggled to stay conscious as the shot from the laser continued to cause pain and weakness.

"Don't do this," he whispered, "Please... remember, I still forgive you, I always will..."

Anger flared up in the Master's eyes.

"Well I will _never_ forgive you!" he said bitterly, and then he turned away and headed for the ladder, but a sudden thought came to mind and then he turned back and smiled as a manic look burned in his eyes.

"I've got a great idea!" he said, "After I've taken a look at the Tardis and decided which parts to rip out, I'm going to fetch the lovely Ace, and then...this is the _best_ part...I'm going to force you to tell her the truth about you and me and why we are enemies! You can open your lying mouth and put right centuries of dishonesty, just for me. And _then_ I'll kill you."

Despite his weakness, Ed's memories had fallen into place and he recalled exactly what the Master was a referring to – the old days, back on Gallifrey, a time in his life that he never talked about, because he was the Doctor and the Doctor revealed the truth of his identity to no one...

"You know I can't tell her that!" he said, taking in a sharp breath as pain throbbed in his shoulder and made his head feel light.

"Yes you will," the Master replied, "Otherwise I'll kill her, I'll shoot her and she will die and so will baby Time lord...So it's up to you, Doctor. Tell her the truth or watch her die."

"The truth was buried centuries ago!"

"_AND IT STILL NEEDS TO BE TOLD!" _the Master yelled, _"You will tell her the truth, you will tell her before you die, you will tell her who you really are!"_

Ed drew in a weak breath and tried to move but the shock of the stun blast had hit him hard.

The Master reached for him, dragging him to his feet and then forcing him over to the ladder.

"You're coming with me," he said in a low voice, "Say goodbye to this place and all your plans for the future, because you're not coming back, Doctor!"

* * *

The Master half dragged him up the ladder and Ed gave up on fighting back because the stun blast had weakened him too greatly. He was hoping it would soon wear off, he had noticed the pistol used by the Master was small and rather old and he hoped the power packs inside it were equally aged, because that would mean the effect would wear off within the next twenty minutes – assuming he had twenty minutes before the Master decided to kill him...

As the Master reached the walkway he dragged Ed with him, and gave him a shove and the Time lord staggered forward, leaning heavily on the metal rail as kept his gaze fixed on his enemy, not daring to look down, because it was a steep drop to the engine room far below.

The Master looked around the vast chamber, then down at the distant power core that burned beneath a large metal grille that covered the lower floor and he laughed like a maniac and threw his arms wide.

"_Mine!" _he yelled joyfully, _"All mine!"_

* * *

The sound of raised voices had carried into the games room and then faded out.

Rose had listened, heard no more sound and tried the door, but then remembered Ed had locked it. She had called to the Doctor and heard no reply, and then she stood in the games room and looked around, wondering if she could find something suitable for breaking down a door.

Eventually she had tugged on a small, loose pipe that had rusted and it had broken free.

Then she looked at the door, deciding her best bet would be to smash the window set inside it – the window was a port hole covered by thick glass, but she hoped if she could shatter it she could reach through and unbolt the door from the other side.

Rose gripped the pipe tightly and slammed it into the glass. The blow sent a jolt up her arm and the glass cracked like a spider had just spun a web through it, and a second blow turned the window frosted.

She paused to take a breath, looking down at the pipe as she summoned more strength.

"It's just toughened glass, how hard can this be!" she exclaimed, and she slammed the pipe against it a third time, and the glass shattered.

Rose raised the end of the pipe and jabbed at the last shards that still clung to the seal, and then she dropped the pipe to the floor and it clattered and the sound echoed around the small room as she paused to get her breath back.

Then she put her hand through the window, then her arm, inching her way slowly to be sure no shards of glass remained. Then she felt around the outside of the door, grabbing at the bolt, raising the catch and sliding it back.

The door swung open and she drew her arm back through the window, then paused to pick up the broken pipe, and ran from the games room, where she stood in the middle of the floor as water looked murky beyond the windows and the SS Atlantis sounded still as the ghost ship that she was.

"Doctor?" she called as she stood there armed with the pipe, "Are you all right?"

But only her own voice echoed back at her.

And then she saw the open door to the water tight tunnel and knew at once her theory about Harold Saxon had been right – he was no friend of the Doctor:

_The Doctor was missing, and so was Harold Saxon, and the door that led to the Tardis control centre was wide open..._

Rose kept a tight grip on the pipe and ran towards the tunnel that led to the Tardis engine rooms.

* * *

Up on the platform, the heat was rising as steam hissed from far down below. The whole chamber glowed orange as the light from the heart of the power core continued to burn.

The Master had taken off his tie and used it to bind the Doctor's hands behind him, he had forced him to stand up against a pipe that ran from the platform to the ceiling, and Ed was struggling to stand because the pain of the stun shot was still lingering.

The Master finished tying his hands and then stood in front of him and glared at him. "What's the matter, does it hurt, Doctor?"

And he grabbed at his shirt and tugged it, ripping it open to reveal deep bruising to his right shoulder. The blast had punctured skin and blood ran from the wound.

"Now I have your attention," the Master continued, "I want an explanation from you, a proper one, a _real _one, _I want to know why you turned your back on me on Gallifrey!_"

Ed drew in a deep breath and his shoulder throbbed painfully.

"I didn't abandon you. I abandoned everyone and everything I knew and cared for, I walked away because I wanted to be free! I wanted to see this beautiful universe as a traveller. Even the Gallifrey High Council understood that!"

The Master stepped back, looking at him with coldness in his eyes.

"They made you president and you turned your back on that offer too. What is it with you, do you think you're too good for your own planet? Or are you so twisted that you'd prefer to spend your days with Earth beings...simple, fragile creatures..."

"I consider Earth my second home!"

The Master stepped forward again, leaning in close to him as he glared at him accusingly.

"_You said you would take me with you."_

Sweat ran down the Doctor's face as he continued to fight the pain from the stun shot.

"You were too unstable! I couldn't be responsible for you forever!"

Bitterness shone in the Master's eyes as he nodded.

"Oh yes, the truth is coming out now. I can't wait to see the look on her face when Ace finds out who you really are and what you did, how you turned your back on everything! _You're just a coward, Doctor. A coward who never stopped running from his own destiny!_"

Ed looked into the eyes of the Master and forced away all urge to fire up his anger by disagreeing with him, the Master's hand kept shifting from his side to the pocket where he kept the pistol, as if he couldn't wait to set the laser on kill and use it a second time...but the Master still had much to say, and as long as he was talking, Ed was able to buy time as he worked on loosening the bonds that tied his hands to the pipe.

"And on the subject of Ace," the Master added, "I think that's truly disgusting. I mean, she's human, she's someone you met in your Seventh life and you should have let her go but no, you had to leave her here, with your very last regeneration, just so you got to meet her again and this time you were good looking enough for her to fancy you... So much effort to get a shag, it's pathetic!"

"_I love her!"_

The Master flinched at the mention of the word _love._

"I do love her," Ed said again, "And I remember I waited a thousand years to be here in this final life time, to meet her again! And don't tell me you could never love a human, you married one...remember there was once a Mrs Saxon? Long dead now, of course...When did she walk away, after you faked your death back when we clashed in my Tenth life? Clever girl, well done to her for leaving you _far_ behind!"

The Master drew back his hand and struck him hard, the Doctor tasted blood and guessed the blow had split his bottom lip, but he ignored the pain as he looked into the Master's eyes. The bonds were loosening now, it would take more time, but soon he would be free, and the effect of the stun shot would be worn off too...

"Never talk about my wife!" the Master said sharply.

"She was human," Ed replied, "Is that when you really started hating humans with a passion, when your human wife saw sense and walked away from you?"

The Master drew in a slow breath and looked at him with eyes glittering with hatred.

"I'm going to enjoy killing you," he said darkly, "Because you have no regenerations left. This time it's the end. And I get to live on, and when this life ends, I still have another regeneration left. I get to live for a _very_ long time and know how it feels to be free of the Doctor forever."

"But can you really kill me?" Ed asked him, "If you think about Gallifrey, if you go back all those centuries and think about how it all began, if you recall how I was the only one who defended you -"

"_SHUT UP!"_

The Master reached into his pocket and drew out the gun, as he swung it around and held a steady aim, Ed saw the setting had changed from stun to kill.

"Shut up," The Master said again, this time in a level, measured tone, "I am _so_ close to killing you...don't make me do it before it's time, Doctor. I want Ace to see you like this, I want her to hear the truth before you die."

And Ed struggled to loosen the bonds that tied his hands behind the pipe, but the Master had tied it well and the bond was not loose enough yet. His shoulder throbbed as he continued to try and get free.

"Ace won't care what I have to say," Ed told him, "She loves me. And she knows all about you. There's nothing you can make me say that will change that. Even if you kill me, you wont change the way she feels."

The Master kept his aim steady as he held the pistol.

"I think she will feel differently," he remarked, and then he laughed.

"She's _really_ going to be upset when I kill you. And _that_ is something worth waiting for!"

_And Rose Tyler watched from the top of the ladder, as the Master stood over the Doctor armed with a laser pistol..._

The Doctor looked injured, and Rose knew at once it would be pointless to jump out and attack a man armed with a laser set to kill, he would simply cut her down with a single blast...

She crept back down the ladder, as she reached the bottom she turned and broke into a run, passing through the corridor and out into the SS Atlantis as she hoped she could remember the way out of the maze, because she could not take on the Master alone – she needed help, she needed to find Ace and tell her the Doctor was in trouble...


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Corridors became a blur as Rose ran, she didn't stop until she reached the lift, and then she got in and slammed the door and activated the controls, breathless as the lift descended.

Then she got out in the Futuristic zone and looked left and right, recognised the ageing console and she dashed past it, then went down the corridor where wires sparked violently, and eventually came to the hidden door that led back to the garden.

She hit the switch and the door slid back.

Rose stepped out, dropped the pipe and ran up the path towards the house, calling to Ace as she ran.

"_Ace!"_ she yelled again, and as she reached the front door, it opened sharply and Ace stared at her.

"What's the matter, Rose?"

"Harry Saxon...he's got the Doctor in the Tardis engine rooms!"

"_What?" _Ace felt her heart begin to race as a flicker of panic ran through her and not for the first time, she wished on the day the Professor had left her here with the final version of the Doctor, he had also handed back her baseball bat and her nitro nine...

Rose's eyes reflected fear as she paused to catch her breath.

"And there's more... he's armed, he's got a laser pistol...and I heard him say his name was the Master."

Her face paled as she looked at Rose.

"Ace?" she asked, "Who is he?"

"A very evil man, a life long enemy of the Doctor. I'm guessing you haven't met him until now or the name would mean something to you – maybe you and your Doctor will run into him eventually, he's dangerous, Rose...Oh God, I wish I had my baseball bat! _Why _did I leave it with the Professor?"

Rose looked at her with a bewildered expression.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but we need to help the Doctor before that lunatic kills him!"

Ace stepped back and Rose entered the house.

She looked up and down the hallway and then back at Ace.

"You must have something we can use to defend ourselves?"

And Ace shook her head.

"The Doctor doesn't carry a gun. I'm out of nitro nine and..."

She paused, and then as she realised something she started to smile as she felt a spark of hope.

"Wait...I'm wrong about this! I know where my stuff is, it's right where I left it!"

"With the Professor?" Rose said, feeling confused.

"The Professor is the name I gave to the Seventh Doctor. You're with the Tenth, but although the Tardis console room has changed a lot, it's still the same Tardis...so my stuff must be in there somewhere!"

"Have you forgotten how many rooms are in the Tardis?"

"No, but I do remember where a storage cupboard used to be, I always used to chuck my rucksack in there... we just have to go back to your Doctor's Tardis and find it!"

Rose shook her head.

"You go back, I'm grabbing that length of pipe I ripped off the wall in the Ocean Zone and I'm going back to the maze... do you know where the tunnel is that leads to the Tardis engines?"

Ace nodded.

"Ed showed me the hidden door a while back."

"Then get your bat and meet me there," Rose said, "And _don't_ bring the nitro nine – you can't go throwing explosives about near the Tardis power core, you'll kill us all."

The look in her eyes hardened.

"I just want to kill one person," she said, "That bastards got the Doctor, no one does that to my baby's father and gets away with it!"

Rose looked at her in surprise.

"You're pregnant?"

Anger still blazed in her eyes.

"When I get my hands on the Master," said Ace, "He'll wish he never came here, he'll wish he never met me!"

And then she held out her hand.

"Give me the Tardis key."

Rose reached in her pocket and handed her the key.

"Be careful."

"Don't worry about me," Ace said, "It's the Master who should be worrying, I'll beat him to a pulp!"

And then they left the house together, Rose heading back to the hidden door to the maze and Ace leaving by the back gate, to where the Tenth Doctor's Tardis was standing in woodland close by.

* * *

The pain in his shoulder was fading to a dull ache as Ed tried again to loosen the tie that bound his wrists. He worked slowly as the Master continued speaking, fixing him with a hard stare that didn't waver.

"I know you're hoping I'll change my mind," the Master said as he stood before him with the gun in his hand, "But I decided to kill you a very long time ago. You must have known I'd catch up with you eventually. After all, I am better than you, it's just that you've been lucky too many times. And now your luck, like your lives, has run out."

And he leaned against the rail and looked at Ed and smiled.

"This is it, Doctor. One squeeze of this trigger and you're gone, no regenerations, no more chances... this is your last life and you can't come back from this."

"I always tried to help you!" Ed said as he felt the tie slip loose, "I always stood up for you, protected you when no one else cared! You know why you're haunted by the sound of drums, you know the _real_ reason!"

"Save your explanations for Ace," the Master said quickly, "I don't have time -"

"_You don't want to hear the truth!"_ Ed shouted, _"You despise me because I'm everything you ever wanted to be and everything that was denied to you from the start!"_

The Master stared at him, and then his grip on the gun tightened.

"Fine words from one who turned his back on his responsibilities and ran away in a Tardis!" he said accusingly, "You can't hide from who you are, Doctor! I know the truth, I know what you gave up and why you ran, trading absolute power for a life of adventure as a vagabond of time and space! I'm not insane, _you _are!"

And then he laughed, and he turned his back on the Doctor as he stood looking over the rail and down into the deep, distant engine room below as his gaze became mesmerised by the flicker of light behind the protective barrier.

"You owe me, Doctor. You owe me the truth and much more besides...I'm taking everything from you, I might even take Ace -"

The words were knocked from his lungs as Ed broke free and slammed against the Master, who grabbed for the rail as he fell forward, facing the dizzying drop to the power core. He raised his laser pistol and as the two men struggled he fired, hitting the barrier as sparks glanced off the rail. Ed had his wrist in an iron grip and he slammed it against the the rail and the Master cried out in pain as the pistol clattered to the floor of the metal walkway.

"_You won't win!"_ Ed said as he struggled with him, _"You never do!"_

The Master continued to struggle, then he got free and landed a punch on the Doctor but Ed grabbed him again and hit him back, and the Master laughed as blood ran from his nose.

"Oh look at us fighting like children again! Brings back memories..." And he aimed another punch and Ed moved sharply, and the Master's fist missed him by a fraction.

"We don't have to fight -"

"_YES WE DO!"_

The Master glanced down and saw the pistol a short distance from there they struggled.

_"Yes we do!"_ he said again, and the two men continued to trade punches as they struggled together on the upper walkway above the power core.

* * *

Ace turned the key and hurried into the Tenth Doctor's Tardis.

As she entered the console room she looked around, searching for the sight of something familiar, but saw nothing of the Tardis as she recalled it to be.

She gave up on the console room and hurried into the Tardis corridor, where she breathed a relieved sigh:

Here, little had changed...

She recognised a familiar doorway and grabbed at the handle and the door swung open. As she looked inside she felt a painful wave of nostalgia; here was her rucksack still packed with nitro nine, her baseball bat beside it – and something she had not expected to find, almost hidden from view in a dusty corner, the Professor's question mark umbrella...

Her heart ached as she recalled the Professor, and then she remembered he was just another face the Doctor had worn and he was very much alive, living on through each of the regenerations that had followed... And her lover, the last Doctor, was in danger and she knew she had no time to waste on thoughts of the past.

Ace grabbed the baseball bat and ran from the Tardis and out into the woods, heading back towards the garden and the entrance to the maze.

* * *

Pain still throbbed in his shoulder as Ed fought with the Master on the walkway above the power core. Both men were bruised and bleeding from their battle, their clothing was torn and neither man was ready to give up, because to give up the fight would mean death for one of them.

"I _will_ stop you!" Ed said breathlessly as he deflected a blow from the Master's fist. He had him by the collar and of his shirt, aimed a punch and the Master shifted sharply, and then as he grabbed him, the Doctor gave a cry of pain as his back hit the wall and a pipe fractured and steam hissed out.

"_I _win this time!" the Master said as he held him there and rage glittered darkly in his eyes, "You were _always_ destined to lose to me eventually!"

And he slammed him against the pipe again.

Ed drew in a weak breath and fought against pain as he focussed on the Master.

"We don't have to destroy each other."

"It's too late!" the Master said darkly.

Ed staggered back, barely able to stand as he leaned against the wall and tried to catch his breath.

The Master was smiling, already tasting a sense of victory as he picked up the laser pistol and then leaned against the rail, and then he looked at the bruised and wounded Time lord.

"You're on your last life. No more regenerations, you're finished!"

Ed drew in a slow breath and fought against pain and weakness as the battle with the Master took its toll and exhaustion began to take over.

"It doesn't have to end like this," he pleaded, "Stop this! Stop it now while we still can!"

Amusement danced in the Master's eyes.

"Too late for you, but not for me, Doctor."

As he spoke, the Master leaned heavier on the rail. _And Ed said nothing as the steel, weakened by the laser shot, began to crack...  
_

"Today is the day you die forever, Doctor," the Master added.

"Perhaps that's true," Ed said in a hushed voice, "But I keep hoping you're going to do or say something to redeem yourself before its too late...I really want you to do that, but if you can't, I want you to know I still forgive you."

Confusion briefly clouded the Master's eyes, and then he continued to speak:

"Just think," he said, "I'll have a _very _powerful Tardis when I've finished ripping yours apart and stealing the other Doctor's police box. Think what I can do to the whole of time and space!"

"I _am_ thinking about it," Ed replied, and he looked at the Master and watched as he continued to lean on the cracked rail:

_The Master would never change._

_And he had to be stopped at any cost..._

Ed drew in a slow breath as he gathered up the last of his strength. He thought of Ace and their unborn child and the fact that he would never see her again. But considering the cost if he did nothing and let the Master win was unthinkable.

"You're right," he said as he blinked away tears, "I will die today. And I'm sorry, I truly am."

"For what?" the Master said.

And suddenly fire blazed in the eyes of the Doctor.

"_For this!"_ he yelled, and he ran at the Master, colliding with him as the rail split and snapped, and then the two men fell together, far down to the steel floor below.

* * *

Ace ran to the maze entrance where Rose was waiting for her.

"What's the plan?" Rose asked as the dashed down the steps and along a corridor and into the Futuristic zone.

"There is no plan," Ace told her, "We just go up there and save him!"

"But what about the Master, he's holding a gun!"

Ace gripped the bat tighter.

"He won't be when I've broken his arm!"

They headed for the lift that would lead to the Aztec zone and then beyond it, the tunnel that would take them to the Ocean zone and the entrance to the Tardis engine room.

They reached the lift and got in, and Ace hit the controls and the lift ascended to the next level.

* * *

Pain ran through his body as Ed opened his eyes.

Breathing was agony and movement was almost impossible.

He looked up at the broken railing far above and guessed he had paid a heavy price for saving the universe from the Master's evil intentions – if there had been any other way, he would have taken it, but there had been no other choice...

"_I'm sorry, Ace," _he whispered, and then he slowly turned his head to see the Master on his back and motionless, his features lit up by the glow of the nearby power core.

Ed took in a painful breath and summoned the last of his strength to reach for his hand.

"I still forgive you," he said weakly, but the Master remained still as death, and then Ed's hand slipped from his grasp.

"I forgive you," he said again, as the glow from the core continued to reflect on the Master's face, "But I can't forgive myself for this, I'm so very sorry..."

And then as pain ran though his body he felt a last wave of weakness wash over him and he thought of Ace, and how there would be no regeneration, no chance to survive this fall and live to see their child born.

_But he had stopped the Master, at least the universe was safe, and that meant Ace and his child would also be safe, because the threat was gone now..._

And that was the Doctor's final thought as he slipped into deep unconsciousness and his breathing began to slow as his shattered body began to give up the fight to survive.

* * *

The light flickered from the power core as the Doctor and the Master lay on the metal floor near the heart of the Tardis engine, both Time lord's bodies were broken from the fall.

And then a fiery mist began to swirl about the Master's features.

And Idris stood over him and glared down at the Master.

"No," she said, "You're _not _going to do that!"

And she placed her hand on the Master's chest, drawing off the power that would have seen his body through one more regeneration.

As the fires within her swirled and reflected in her eyes, she heard the Master give a groan of pain as he face began to grow pale.

Then she turned to the Doctor and fell to her knees.

"My thief!" she said as her voice choked with tears, "It's not too late...let me help you..."

And she leaned over him, pausing to wipe blood from his cheek, and then she spoke again softly:

"You can't handle another regeneration...but just enough energy will repair the damage, Doctor."

And the she leaned closer and their lips touched and flickering firelight passed from Idris to Ed, who drew in a slow, deep breath. Idris smiled as she watched his cuts and bruises start to fade away, and then she got up and turned around, looking upward as she heard Ace shout to the Doctor.

"Oh no!" Ace cried in panic at the sight of the Doctor and the Master on the floor far below, "Oh no, no...Ed?"

Then she gave a sob.

She and Rose were climbing quickly down a ladder further down the walkway, Ace was hurrying as tears filled her eyes.

She reached the bottom and dropped the bat and ran over to the Doctor, and then Rose jumped the last three rungs of the ladder and landed, and she turned and hurried over to join them.

Ace gave a sob as she looked down at the Doctor, who was still on the floor with his blood stained shirt torn.

"Please don't let him die!" she wept.

Idris looked at her in surprise.

"He won't die. I prevented it."

"I saw you kiss him," Rose added.

"You kissed him?" Ace exclaimed as she wiped tears from her face, "What's going on, I don't get any of it?"

"The Doctor had to push the Master off the ledge high above, he had to stop him. He was going to tear me apart and steal the other Doctor's Tardis to make his own more powerful. A man like that, in control of the most powerful time machine in the universe, it could have been disastrous. So the Doctor stopped him. They fell together from the walkway. He was dying and so was the Master. The Master started to regenerate, so I stole his regeneration and used part of it to heal the Doctor's wounds." Then Idris smiled, adding, "I also repaired the damage to his memory. When he wakes, Ace, he will be the man he used to be, before the great battle. Now you'll get to meet _all _of the Last Doctor _and_ his vast knowledge of the twelve galaxies."

Relief shone in her eyes.

"Thank you!" Ace said gratefully, and then Idris recalled something else and glanced to Rose then back to Ace.

"And I was transferring the regenerative energy, not _only_ kissing him..."

Then she looked down at Ed who was yet to wake up and she smiled.

"Although I could have transferred it by a simple touch, but I chose to kiss him to make the transfer... look at him, can you blame me?"

Ace laughed softly.

"You just saved his life, you can kiss him any time you like!"

Then Idris stepped back and looked down as something sparkled in her hand.

"What's that?" Ace asked her.

And Idris smiled as her eyes sparkled with warmth and emotion that made her eyes glaze with tears.

"That," she said in a hushed voice, "Is what's left of the regenerative power. _A spark of magic, a pinch of stardust, life itself in my hand.._. The Doctor will be waking soon, I must go now."

And she melted into ribbons of glowing energy that zipped about the engine room, and then she was gone.

* * *

Ace fell to her knees beside the Doctor as Rose stood watching, she turned her head and glanced over at the Master, who was on his back and still and pale – but his chest rose and fell weakly, and he coughed and blood ran from the corner of his mouth.

"He's still alive."

"I know, I'm so grateful to Idris..."

Ace was beside the Doctor, she stroked his hair as she looked down at him, waiting for him to wake.

"Not Ed, I mean the Master!"

"Okay...what ever.." Ace murmured as she continued to fix her gaze on Ed, "I'm with the Doctor right now, I just want him to wake up and be okay,..we'll worry about the person who caused all this later."

"But he's struggling to breathe...someone should be with him..."

"Don't ask me... why don't you comfort him?"

Rose remained standing beside the Doctor.

"I'd rather not," she said in a hushed voice.

And then Ed opened his eyes and sat up.

He blinked several times and then paused for thought, realising his memories were no longer like broken shards of glass; everything was back as it should be with nothing missing now...

He looked down at his torn and blood stained shirt and recalled the shot from the pistol and placed his hand on his shoulder and felt no trace of a wound.

"How did I survive, and why do I feel as if I've had a partial regeneration?"

Ace wanted to hug him, but he was looking at her like he was demanding that answer right away.

"Idris saved you," she told him, "The Master was about to regenerate so she took his regeneration and used some of it to heal your wounds. I'm not sure what she's doing with the rest of it, she's gone now."

Ed got up quickly and Ace and Rose looked surprised.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Rose asked.

"I'm fine," Ed replied, and then worry clouded his eyes.

"But I'm not happy about this...Idris stole his final regeneration and -"

"If she hadn't stopped him, he would have left you to die and carried on with his plans!" Ace reminded him, "She did all she could to help you, she saved your life."

"But at the cost of his," he replied, looking to the Master, who lay bleeding on the floor.

And then he saw him struggle to breathe.

"He's still alive!"

"Yeah, we know," Ace replied quietly as her and Rose exchanged a glance, both deciding this was a _very _awkward situation...

"So help him!" Ed said to them, and they both looked back at him with reluctance.

"But wouldn't it be better to let him...well, I don't mean just let him die, but look at him – he won't last much longer...sorry, it had to be said." And then Rose fell silent as she looked away, feeling guilty for doing nothing.

Ace had got up from the floor and looked over to where the Master lay weakly coughing as blood ran from his mouth.

"I make her right," she said quietly, "Idris took his last life because he would have used it to destroy the universe as we know it. He's dying, let him go."

Ed looked over at the Master.

Ace felt confused as she expected to see hatred reflected in his eyes and instead saw deep compassion.

"No," Ed said to her, "I can't do that. We _must_ help him."

Ace stared at him in disbelief.

"You what? He came here intending to kill you and use your Tardis for spare parts, he probably would have killed me and Rose too...and you want to _help_ him?"

"Yes I do," Ed replied, and he walked over to where the Master lay bleeding and looked down at him.

"Doctor..." Ace began, but he gave no reply as he continued to look down at his wounded enemy.

"Doctor...don't do this...please, he doesn't deserve help!"

"Ace," he replied as he kept his gaze fixed on the Master, "I will explain everything later. But not now, there's no time. We need to get him out of here. I'll take him to Usscora and while we're there you can see if your Doctor is well enough to leave yet. But don't tell him about the trouble we've had with the Master, because he's yet to meet him as Harold Saxon - their battle is yet to be, and we must _not _tinker with the time line."

And then he lifted the Master into his arms and carried him across the room to a lift beside the power core.

"This is the fastest way out of here," he said, and he went inside, and Ace and Rose exchanged a puzzled look, both wondering why the Doctor was so keen to help his worst enemy, and then they followed him inside and the lift began to climb upwards, towards the surface once more.

As the lift ascended, Ace watched as the Doctor continued to hold the Master, tilting his head to ease his breathing, and she wanted to ask why he was so desperate to save his life but instead she remained silent, knowing now was not a time for questions, because the Master's body had been shattered by the fall, and for some reason known only to him, the Doctor was desperate to save him...


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The Master's blood was slowly pooling on the floor of the console room.

Ed walked quickly around the console and hit switches and turned dials with no hesitation, as if he had suddenly become familiar with the workings of the Tenth Doctor's Tardis.

Rose was staring at him, and he sensed it and looked up at her.

"Yes, what?" he said impatiently.

Rose replied in a hushed voice.

"There's something different about you since the partial regeneration – it's the way you're handling the Tardis, like my Doctor does."

"Oh, that..." he paused to key in some flight co ordinates, "Idris restored my memory completely, I suppose I would seem slightly changed, I can recall everything now, from every life time I ever lived."

"I hope you're not _too_ different." Ace sounded worried.

He looked up from the console.

"I'm still the Doctor, Ace," he reminded her, and then his gaze shifted to the Master.

"Is he still breathing?"

"What?"

The look in his eyes hardened as he spoke again with urgency.

"The Master, Ace! Is he still with us? You may not care if he lives or dies, but_ I_ do!"

"He's still breathing, but only just. His pulse is weak too." Rose had replied in a hushed voice as she sat on the floor beside the Master, who was on his side and struggling to breathe as he coughed and more blood ran from his mouth.

"He might not make it," she added, "He's very weak now."

Determination burned in the Doctor's eyes as he activated the space time controls.

"I'm not losing him!" he vowed, and the Tardis vanished from the woodland, leaving Earth far behind.

* * *

Rose watched over the Master, and as his face grew pale and he struggled for breath she put her hand on his shoulder, keeping him on his side as he choked, coughed blood and drew in a desperate breath that choked off somewhere deep in his throat.

Then she turned her head and watched as Ed stood at the console and spoke to Ace, sounding very much like a true Time lord now his memory was completely restored.

"It won't take long to get there," he said, "I'm taking a short cut – I've travelled through this constellation many times over the centuries, I know the way... I can get us there in seconds."

He turned another dial and the vortex flashed by as the Tardis picked up speed. Then as it slowed into deep space, it turned gracefully as they approached a nearing planet.

"That was a skilful ride," Rose remarked, "Your gentle touch just got even better."

And the Doctor ignored the compliment as his thoughts stayed with the wounded Master, while Ace shot her a stony look as jealousy prickled. And then the Tardis shifted dimension once again, leaving space and landing on the planet with graceful ease.

The Doctor lifted the Master into his arms, and more blood spilled on to his shirt as the Master took in a difficult breath. He carried him to the door of the Tardis and Rose and Ace followed, and they stepped out into a long white corridor.

Rose recognised the place as the hospital where the Tenth Doctor was recovering from the snake bite.

"As soon as the Master's taken care of, I'm off to see the Doctor," she said.

"Of course," Ed replied, and then he saw medical staff further up the corridor and shouted to them for help as the Master continued to struggle to breathe.

* * *

Ace stood back saying nothing as the Master was rushed to the emergency room.

Rose hurried off and took the lift to the next floor to see if her Doctor was yet recovered, and as Ace stood in the corridor with Ed she once again wondered why he was so anxious to save the Master's life.

She watched as he spoke to a nurse, explaining Harold Saxon had been injured in a fall from a steep height, and when the nurse had seen his own blood stained clothing and asked if he was also injured he had dismissed the remark.

"I'm a Time lord," he said," So is Mr Saxon, but he can no longer regenerate. I'm fine, worry about him."

"We do not know a great deal about Time lord anatomy," the nurse reminded him, "Due to the regeneration process we have little knowledge, and if his internal injuries are severe it may be impossible to save him."

"Just do what you can," he said.

And then Ace continued to listen as the Doctor gave more of the Master's details, naming him as Harold Saxon from Earth.

"_Earth?"_ she murmured, and then the Doctor followed the nurse over to a desk where he drew out a credit card and paid in advance for the Master's treatment.

Then the nurse asked another question.

"You do realise there is most likely very little we can do for your friend?"

Ed nodded.

"But as I said, just try, please."

And then he ran his fingers through his hair and looked anxiously towards the emergency room. As the nurse walked away, Ace stood beside the Doctor and knew she had many questions that needed answering, and those questions could not wait any longer, because she needed those answers now...

* * *

Ace and the Doctor walked down the corridor to a waiting area and sat down together. The Doctor had fallen silent and one look at him told Ace all she needed to know – he was desperately worried about the man who had once been his sworn enemy...

"Doctor," Ace said quietly, "Why are you helping him?"

Ed met her gaze, and such intensity burned in his eyes it seemed they reflected fear and grief and so many other emotions she could make no sense of as he thought of the Master.

"You hate him!" she exclaimed, "Why should you do all this for him? He would have seen you dead back there, _why _do you care if he lives or dies?"

Suddenly it seemed as if all of time and space burned within his blue eyes, and as he spoke in a hushed voice, he began to explain:

"You want to know why? Only one other person knew, and he's dead now."

"Jayden?" she guessed.

"Yes, Jayden. And now I'm choosing to trust you, and this is the closest I will ever come to speaking of my true identity."

And still it seemed those mystical fires burned in his eyes, reminding Ace that her lover was indeed alien.

Ed kept his voice low as he told her the secret no other living soul shared:

"My name is not the Doctor. I chose that name when I left Gallifrey – actually, I ran away – I ran from my responsibilities. I was born the son of the most powerful Time lord in the entire universe. I was destined to take his place, to rule over all of time and space – but I rejected that role in favour of freedom. I didn't want to rule time and space, I wanted to be free to wander as a traveller, to explore its wonders!"

"So you stole a Tardis and ran away?"

"Yes I did," Ed replied, "The Gallifrey High Council was formed in my absence and they elected me President. But that didn't last because I was never there! I'd made my intentions clear from the start."

Ace looked at him in confusion.

"Okay, I get that part – you're some kind of Time lord prince – but what does that have to do with the Master?"

Ed leaned closer, dropping his voice lower as he continued:

"From now on, in front of others, you must only refer to him by his earth name of Harold Saxon."

"Why?" Ace asked him, "Why are you hiding his real identity?"

"Because if Gallifrey found out they would send for him and execute him for his many crimes!"

Ace was looking at him in disbelief as she tried and failed to understand how he could bring himself to protect the Master from punishment.

"_Why_ are you protecting him, I don't get it?"

Ed looked into her eyes.

"We grew up together, we were educated together, he was a year younger than me and enjoyed the same childhood as me – but for one difference. He knew he would never share in the greatness I was supposed to inherit."

"Because he's just the Master," Ace replied, "So what was it that turned him against you, was he jealous?" And then she started to smile as a sudden thought occurred to her, "Oh wow – you're a prince! My boyfriend is a Time lord prince, how cool is that -"

"Ace!" he said sharply, "_Listen_ to me – I'm trying to explain something!"

"I am listening," she replied quietly.

"_Yes, I am a prince,"_ he continued, as his voice dropped to a whisper, _"And the Master is my father's younger son – his illegitimate son, born to his mistress, the Master is my half brother."_

Ace stared at him. Words failed her as she took in all he had said, and her blood ran cold as she realised what this could mean for their future. Then she sat in silence, thinking and trying to make sense of it all, as she still felt guilty for hoping the Master would _not _survive his injuries...

Ace and the Doctor sat in silence for a long while as Ace tried and failed to come to terms with all he had said. Then he spoke her name and she turned her head and looked at him as anger blazed in her eyes.

"Ace," he said, "I'm sorry I kept this from you -"

"_You kept it from me for a thousand years!"_ she said bitterly, _"You could have told me when we first met on Iceworld, back in your Seventh life! You've always been secretive, maybe I shouldn't be so shocked – it's a habit you've never got out of!"_

Hurt reflected in his eyes as he looked at her.

"No Ace – my personality has undergone many changes with every regeneration! I admit I could have been more open with you back in that other life, but this is different, it's a terrible secret I don't even like to admit to myself!"

That look of pain was still in his eyes, and seeing it made her anger simmer down.

"I can believe that!" she exclaimed, "I mean, who would want _him_ for a brother!"

"He's not entirely to blame for his actions," Ed told her, "He's unwell, Ace – he's mentally ill -"

"Oh no, _don't_ start making excuses for him! You can't dress it up any other way than it is – he's a psycho! He's evil!"

"No, he is ill. No one is born evil! I've always tried to stand up to him without destroying him in the process."

And then he paused as he blinked away tears, recalling the moment they fell from the walkway together.

"But today I had no choice but to try and stop him any way I could."

"At least he can't regenerate now," Ace told him, "I'm glad Idris took his spare life and gave it to you. If she hadn't done that he would have regenerated and gone on with his plans and left you to die. And you want to _save_ him?"

"I have no other choice," Ed replied, "The Master is my brother, I can't ignore that fact."

Ace looked into his eyes.

"Jayden Drake was like a brother to you. The Master is just someone you were unlucky enough to be related to, there's a big difference! Family isn't always blood!"

Sorrow reflected in the Doctor's eyes.

"But nothing changes the fact that he is my brother. If I could have chosen between them, I would rather have had Jayden here with us, of course. But we can't choose our relatives and nothing alters the fact that I can't walk away from this situation."

Ace drew in a slow breath as she tried to keep her rising temper in check.

"But you have to walk away from him, you have to think of you and me and the baby!"

She looked to him pleadingly.

"Ed, this is the result of his actions. You're not to blame for him being a psycho! Let's just wait and find out if he makes it, then we can leave."

"But we will have to return. Rose is hoping my Tenth self will be awake by now – but he won't be recovered for another two days. We have to come back."

"So we come back for the other Doctor, he drops us off back home on Earth and that's the end of it!"

Ed stared at her. And in that moment the look she saw in his eyes told her for certain that he would _not_ be walking away from his brother, and it began to dawn on her that she had been naive to ever think that he would – he was the Doctor, he believed in fairness and his compassion was deep as space.

_Of course he wouldn't turn his back on the Master..._

She she took in a couple of deep breaths, still keeping her temper in check before she spoke again. When she did speak her voice was calm and controlled, but the anger she was holding back showed in her eyes as she told him exactly how she felt about the situation:

"_What ever you're planning,"_ she said in a low voice, _"I don't want to be a part of it! I want nothing to do with the Master!"_

* * *

Rose quietly pushed open the door to the Tenth Doctor's room and went inside.

"Wake up," she whispered, "Please...I've come a long way. And I've got so much to tell you, stuff about the future. There's this guy called the Master but his Earth name is Harold Saxon. He's dangerous, but you've never mentioned him to me. I guess we've yet to meet him... Doctor, please wake up, I just want to talk to you..."

Rose drew in a sharp breath as she blinked away tears. The Doctor was sleeping easily, but very deeply and she noticed a trickle of sweat run from his brow as he rested.

The snake bite was healing but still looked raw.

"I was hoping you might be awake... but it's too soon. Of course it is, you need another day or two...we came back here early because the other Doctor almost killed him – the Master, I mean. He was planning to rip his old Tardis apart for spares and steal yours too. But Ed stopped him. And I've never heard of Idris, but she lives inside the Tardis matrix...do you know about her, or hasn't that happened yet?"

And the Doctor slept on and Rose stepped closer to the bed and ran her hand over his hair. He was resting easily and she could tell he was making a slow and sure recovery, but it didn't stop her heart aching as she remembered she would have to get back in the Tardis and leave without him.

"_Leaving you once was hard, but twice..."_

Rose stifled a sob and then quickly wiped her eyes.

"Good thing you're not awake yet. You're not strong enough yet to hear any of this... it was really bad. I thought they were both dead, the other Doctor and the Master. Then Idris took the Master's regeneration out of him and gave it to him – to you, I mean your future self. And then he was okay and the Master was dying. He's still alive, but I don't know for how much longer. I can't see him recovering from this. Maybe that's a good thing, he's evil... Sorry, I should shut up now. I'd feel guilty if I woke you up, I know you need to rest. But I wish you would wake up..."

Rose drew in a slow breath, willing herself not to cry. She knew he was recovering, but it didn't stop her heart feeling as if it was being slowly torn in half.

"_Rose..."_

She turned from his bedside to see Ace standing in the doorway.

"Are you okay?" Ace asked her, noticing Rose looked on the brink of tears.

She nodded.

"Yeah, I'm just missing him...I know I don't need to, I know he's going to be okay but I just don't want to leave him again."

"I just spoke to the nurse," Ace told her,"She said he's still under sedation for now, but he should be ready to go home in the next couple of days, the venom's almost out of his system."

Rose nodded.

"That's good to know."

And then she paused, before asking a question she really didn't want to ask, but felt she had to:

"How is he? Did the Master survive?"

"We're still waiting for news," Ace replied, "Well, I mean I'm not, Ed's waiting. He's determined to help him."

"Why?"

As Rose looked at her, Ace recalled how the Doctor had confided his secret and knew she could not share all she knew.

"Because he's like that," she replied, "He doesn't want to see anyone die, even the Master."

Rose smiled as she looked back at the Tenth Doctor.

"So he won't change much through all those regenerations," she replied, "He hates violence. Never wants anyone to get hurt."

And then she leaned over him and kissed his cheek fondly, but the Doctor continued to sleep.

"I'll see you soon," she told him, and then she turned away and walked out of the room, joining Ace in the corridor.

"You don't need to wait around with us if you don't want to," Ace said quickly, knowing there could be no discussion about the Master's true link to the Doctor in front of Rose.

"No, it's okay, I'd better leave now," Rose told her, "I might as well wait with you – if I stay here with him any longer I won't want to leave, and then I'll end up sleeping on a chair in the waiting area for the next two days!"

"I bet you would," Ace replied as they walked together towards the lift, "I'd be the same if it was Ed. Oh God, I'd be in such a mess if it was him bitten by a poisonous snake!"

They reached the lift doors and Ace pressed the call button.

"I'm really not looking forward to this," she said to Rose, "Because the Doctor wants him to live, and I don't think he's going to make it, I think the Master's going to die."

* * *

As the lift rose to the next floor and the doors opened, Ace and Rose stepped out and then Ace stopped, looking up the corridor to see Ed talking with a member of the medical staff.

"This is mental!" she said, "I hate the Master. But I don't want him to die because I love the Doctor."

And then she watched as Ed thanked the nurse and as she turned and walked away he breathed a heavy sigh and blinked away tears and turned towards a window.

"I don't want this to be bad news," she said in a hushed voice, "If it is, his hearts will be broken."

"But the Master is an enemy...I'm confused, Ace."

"He just wants to save him," Ace replied quickly, and then she quickened her pace as she hurried up the corridor towards the window at the end of the hall where the Doctor stood watching the sun set.

"Doctor?"

Ed heard her, he knew Ace was standing behind him, but he was still watching the sun set, focussing on it as the dying light caught on lilac sparkles set in the hillside far away.

"Talk to me," Ace said gently, "What's happened?"

"They couldn't fix his internal damage so they had to remove some tissue and replace it with a cybernetic implant, he's going to need a few more of those to complete an internal life support system. He won't make a full recovery. If he survives over the next few weeks he will most likely need care for the rest of his life, and that could be a long time. He could live for another four hundred years...not that it's going to be much of a life."

"I'm sorry," Ace said softly, "For you, I mean – I'm sorry its bad news for you."

"It looks like I'll have to leave him here," he said quietly, "I don't just mean for now, while he has treatment, I mean permanently."

And then as Ace stood beside him he turned his head and looked at her and a tear ran down his face.

"This is just as painful as losing Jayden. At least I have memories of him, good ones – and the Tardis has kept his old room just the way he left it. And there's the grave...I have no memorial to the Master. I know he's not dead, but I don't even have a fond memory. Just rivalry and war and hatred between us that should have finished a thousand years ago!"

Ace took hold of his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"The other Doctor should be well enough to leave in a couple of days. We can come back for him and leave right away, it's best if you don't see the Master again. Just leave him, Doctor. Think of the future, our future."

He blinked away more tears.

"I am thinking of the future but it doesn't make walking away any easier."

"But it's the best thing to do," Ace reminded him, "Walking away is never easy but sometimes its all you can do. Now let's go home."

He hesitated and she looked at him pleadingly.

"Let's go," she said again, and Ed nodded.

"I suppose there's nothing else we can do," he said quietly, and then, keeping a tight grip on her hand, they walked away together towards the Tardis at the end of the corridor.

* * *

Once they were back inside the Tardis and the Doctor had activated the controls and the police box had shifted gracefully to another dimension, Ace and Rose stood in silence as Ed leaned on the console and watched as the vortex rushed by.

"The worst thing about being a Time lord is living longer than those around you," he said quietly, "I never forget them, I never forget anyone I've known. And today I miss Jayden more than ever."

And he indicated to the doorway that led to the Tardis corridor.

"That corridor has always been in the same place no matter how many times this ship alters internally. And if I think about it, I can still see him standing there, leaning against the doorway in his blue Edwardian suit checking his pocket watch as he asked me what the local time was when we landed on a planet. He was always setting that watch, everywhere we went, turning the hands around the dial...to me it was yesterday."

And then the Tardis landed and he continued to stand there for a moment, lost in thoughts of the past.

"_I've lost them all, Ace – every one I've ever known. Except you. I'm holding on to you. I'd be lost without you."_

"I'm not going anywhere," she promised him, and he smiled sadly.

"You will never know how thankful I am to know that."

And then he turned from the console and headed for the door.

"At least we're back on Earth, back in the Tardis I call home," he said, and as he opened the door and stepped out Ace and Rose followed him and found he had landed the Tardis in the garden, close the the wall and the hidden entrance to the maze.

Here it was still daylight and the sun was high in the mid day sky.

"I don't want to think about anything for the rest of the day," Ed said to Ace as they walked along the path towards the house.

"All I keep thinking is how much _my_ Doctor has missed," Rose said, "I can't wait to tell him!"

And Ed said nothing as he silently worried about the fact that Rose Tyler now knew far too much about the distant future and the ultimate fate of the Master...

As they passed the willow tree, Ace glanced over at the marble headstone – and then she turned her head again, taking in a sharp breath as she stared in disbelief.

"Ed..."

"Not now," Ace, he said, sounding exhausted as they neared the house.

"But Doctor -"

"Not now, I just want to go inside and rest," he said.

Ace looked back again, and now she was sure her eyes had not deceived her, but the Doctor was already opening the door to the house, weary and needing sleep, he had not noticed what had shocked her so deeply as she looked over at the place beneath the willow tree:

_The grave of Jayden Drake had vanished..._


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"_Doctor!"_

"Not now Ace, it's been a very difficult day."

" But I'm trying to tell you something -"

Rose caught her arm.

"Ace?"

She gave a weary sigh and watched as Ed walked off down the hallway towards the front room.

"I need something strong...with ice...need ice..." And he turned back and headed for the kitchen.

Rose was looking at Ace intently.

"What's wrong?" she asked her.

And Ace looked back at Rose Tyler and wondered how she could explain that the grave had disappeared, and that she now had a theory about what Idris had said about the remainder of the regenerative energy being a pinch of magical stardust – life itself...

"This might sound crazy, but I think -"

A footfall sounded on the stairs and both women looked up.

Ace stared as a man walked down the stairway:

He wore a dark blue Edwardian suit and a silver eye patch that failed to disguise a scar above his affected eye socket. His fair hair was neatly combed and fell to his collar and he looked very much alive, just as he had in the crypt, but now he really was living and breathing...

_It was Jayden Drake._

Ace gave a gasp.

"Who are you?" said Rose as she looked suspiciously at the man who had paused halfway down the stairs and looked intently at both of them.

"What's the time please, ladies?" he asked.

And Rose and Ace continued to stare at him.

"The time?" he said again, taking out his silver pocket watch and opening up the glass that covered it as he placed a finger on the dial.

Ace checked her own watch.

"It's one fifteen pm."

"Thank you!"

He adjusted the watch and put it away and then continued to stand there, looking at the two women as they stared back at him.

"You're Jayden Drake!" Ace exclaimed.

"Yes I am. I had a dream I was killed in a battle. Then I found out it wasn't a dream. Idris told me everything."

He continued to walk down the stairway.

"I was gone for a hundred years? How_ did_ the Doctor cope without me?"

And then as he reached the bottom of the stairs he smiled.

"Apparently I was in stasis for a century. I don't feel like I was, I don't remember it. I remember getting wounded but it's all gone now."

Ace started to smile.

"Idris brought you back because she loves you."

He looked at Ace in surprise.

"If she loved me that much she should have fixed my eye as well!" he exclaimed, "But she reckons she can't do it, she could only put me back the way I was when she first met me."

"Like a system point restore!" Ace said.

"I believe she thinks of me as much more than that..." he laughed and his dark eyes sparkled, "She brought me back hours ago and I've only just got out of bed and dressed...need I say more?"

And then he turned to Rose.

"You must be Ace... the Doctor always had an eye for the stunners!"

And Ace felt a prickle of annoyance. And then Rose giggled and she noticed she was blushing as she shook hands with him.

"Actually I'm Rose Tyler, and I'm pleased to meet you, Jayden."

And in that moment Ace realised something that made her smile:

_Rose fancied Jayden. And whether she realised it or not, she was flirting with him as their eye contact lingered. And as far as she was concerned, that was great to know, because if Rose fancied Jayden, she would stop making eyes at Ed..._

"And _I'm_ Ace, I'm the Doctor's girlfriend."

He laughed as he realised his mistake.

"Of course you are. Sorry about the confusion...it's not every day I get brought back to life. Blame it on that."

And then he looked around the hallway.

"Where is the Doctor?"

"In the kitchen," Ace said, pointing to the end of the hall.

And then he walked off and Rose made a move to follow, but Ace caught her arm gently.

"Don't," she said softly, "We should keep back for a moment, give them some space."

And then she stood and watched as Jayden Drake reached the end of the hallway and walked into the kitchen.

* * *

The Doctor had just placed ice cubes into a glass and was thinking of pouring some brandy over it when he turned and stared in shock at the sight of someone he had believed he would never see again...

_Jayden stood there in the open doorway looking as if the explosion had never happened._

"Nice place you've got here," Jayden said, "And if I stand still and listen carefully, I do believe I can still hear the hum of the Tardis... I know everything, she told me..Idris, I mean. She brought me back, she saved a little bit of regenerative power, just enough to fix my human body."

Ed was still staring at him as he lost his grip on the glass and it hit the floor and shattered.

"_Jayden?" _he whispered.

And Jayden smiled.

"Yes, I _am _back. I can prove it too, come here, give me a hug."

He didn't need to be told twice.

As the Doctor embraced his closest friend tightly he blinked away tears.

"She brought you back?" he exclaimed as he let go of him.

"She brought me back, showed me how much she's missed me and then she went back do her matrix thing... I'm still getting used to that, knowing she's the Tardis. I mean, when you first told me, it blew my mind. I like your Tardis, but I wouldn't...well I'm not that weird...but I get it now. She's the matrix. I'm _not _in love with a blue police box!"

And the two men laughed.

Then Ed blinked away more tears as he looked at Jayden, still coming to terms with the fact that his closest friend was really back forever.

"I've got so much to tell you!" he said.

"I know all about it," Jayden replied, "You got wounded in the battle for Earth and kept yourself alive in the power core for a century, then Ace came along and freed you and you ended up here on Earth because the Tardis unfolded...Oh, and I know about the trouble with your brother. I know Idris took his last regeneration and used it to fix your wounds and bring me back. That's just about everything, I do believe – unless there's more?"

Ed shook his head.

"You've covered everything."

Jayden looked at him intently.

"Apart for one thing."

"What's that?"

"Have you missed me much?"

And then he started to smile and Ed laughed and the two men hugged again.

Then Ace and Rose came into the kitchen and Ace smiled as she saw the Doctor and his close friend enjoying a happy reunion.

"This is Ace and -"

"No need for introductions, Doctor – we've already met. Now I think you and me should sit down in that lovely garden the Tardis has created and you can tell me how you stayed sane while you were locked in the power core for a century."

"Good idea," Ed replied.

And the two men walked towards the door and headed for the garden.

Jayden glanced back at the smashed glass and the melting ice cubes.

"Some one should clean that mess up, ladies!" he exclaimed.

"So it's got to be one of us because we're girls?" Ace said, "What planet do you come from? Obviously not one that's ever heard of equality..."

"_You're right,"_ he said,_ "After civil war ravaged my Earth colony planet of origin, my people looked to old Earth history to rebuild. I come from a place where men are men and women are grateful for it!"_

Ace forced a smile as he went out into the garden, and then annoyance flashed in her eyes.

"Well it seems he won't be living a very long time in his new life if he carries on with that attitude!" she exclaimed, "I'll bloody throttle the bloke!"

And Rose laughed softly.

"But you must admit he's got something..."

"Yeah, a sexist attitude, and you're welcome to him!" Ace replied.

Rose looked at her in surprise.

"I don't fancy him!"

"Not much!"

Ace set about sweeping up the broken glass on the floor.

Rose giggled.

"Aww, look at you, being a good little woman..."

Ace dumped the glass in the kitchen waste bin.

"Stop it!" she said, and then they exchanged a glance and laughed.

* * *

As the sun sank lower in the sky, the Doctor and Jayden Drake sat talking about time and how the passing of it had made no difference to their friendship. Time Lord and human sat together at a bench on the lawn and as they talked, Jayden would pause to look over at the spot beneath the willow tree where flowers now grew as he tried to get used to the fact that his cold body had once rested there underground beneath a marble grave stone.

"Its a lot to get used to," Jayden said, "A lot to think about – if I _choose_ to think about it, and I don't think I will, because it's enough to drive me insane I'd rather think of it as being the same as you, sleeping for a hundred years. I can live with that idea, and I can sleep at night too!"

"Now we are the same," Ed replied, "You have one life and so do I – this is my last regeneration. And the Master also has no regenerations left now. And it's still painful to think of him far away on a distant planet, alone... no matter how many centuries pass nothing can alter the fact that he's still my brother."

Jayden looked at him thoughtfully.

"Nor can it erase the memory of his dark deeds," he said, "At least I would _hope_ your sympathy doesn't extend to choosing to forget all the bitterness that has passed between you. And of course there's the fact that he would have been happy to watch you die, walk away from here with salvaged Tardis parts and probably take the universe apart at his leisure. As long as you remember those facts I'm sure the rest will stay in perspective."

And Ed looked across the table at him and felt forever thankful to Idris for resurrecting his close companion.

"Where would I be without your advice?" he replied, "You're right, I mustn't lose sight of the facts. Nothing can change what he's done."

Jayden paused for a moment, and then he looked to the house, saw no sign of Rose and Ace, but kept his voice low as he spoke again.

"If your brother is too severely compromised by his injuries perhaps the kindest thing to do – for him as well as you – would be for me to press my laser pistol to his temple. He wouldn't even know about it, a split second would be all it takes."

Then he saw the look in Ed's eyes and laughed off his remark.

"Sorry, Doctor. I was only wondering what you thought about the possibility of a mercy killing. Obviously it's not a good idea, so I'll shut my mouth and we'll say no more on the subject."

"You seriously think I'd let you _kill_ him?"

The look in Jayden's eyes hardened.

"He's the Master. You are the_ only _one who thinks of brotherly bonds. To him, you are his sworn enemy and if he was still able, he would see you dead as a first priority. Can you blame me for wanting to be certain he can never achieve that?"

"I can't forget you offered to _kill_ him!"

"I'm not saying we should, I'm just reminding you how evil he is and how he would have – and did, where possible – take every opportunity to try and destroy you! Don't _ever_ lose sight of that, Doctor. If you do, compassion can prove dangerous. And not just for you – for Ace and the baby too. It sounds to me like you want to be in his life, like you want to make amends. By the way, that's complete and utter bullshit because you're not to blame for taking the only option you had to stop him by sending you both over the top of that walkway! I'm only telling you how I see it, my friend."

As he looked into his eyes, complete honesty reflected there.

"Idris certainly did tell you everything," he replied, "I see she missed nothing out, including how I feel about the cause of his injuries."

"It was not your fault," Jayden reminded him, "Keep remembering that, because I'm sure he will be only too happy to try and make you feel guilty about what happened. Remember who and what he is and _never_ forget it."

Sadness reflected in Ed's eyes as he looked across the table at his closest friend.

"So what do I do, Jayden? Ace wants me to walk away from him, I can understand why, she remembers him from the old days, and she saw what happened when he turned up here, she knows he almost killed me. It's all a bit much for her to take."

Jayden nodded.

"I guessed she would have felt that way. I mean, she thought she'd lost you when she first turned up and saw you and the Master after the fall."

Ed looked at him in surprise.

"How do you know all these details?"

He smiled.

"Idris took my hand," Jayden said, "And I saw it play out in front of my eyes, absolutely everything in a split second. That's how she put me in the picture. And then she let go of my hand and put her hands elsewhere!"

And he laughed, but the Doctor did not.

"She's free to leave if she wants to. The energy from the power crystals can keep this place running. She will probably want to leave with you."

Jayden replied without hesitation.

"She's not going anywhere. She wants to stay here with you and Ace. So I'm staying too – if you can put up with me, Doctor."

Ed smiled.

"I think I can put up with you for at least another hundred years!"

His remark surprised Jayden.

"Do you think I'll last that long?"

"I don't know," Ed replied, "But you were brought back with a low dose of regenerative energy and that's powerful stuff for a human to absorb. I would imagine it's probably lengthened your human lifespan a great deal."

Jayden thought for a moment.

"So I will be around for a long time, a _very_ long time..."

And then he fell silent as he became lost in his own thoughts.

"But I still don't know what to do about the Master," Ed said to him, "We have to return to the planet to reunite the Tenth Doctor with his Tardis, and once we return to Earth, I can never go back because my Tardis has unfolded. She can't fly again, the damage she sustained in the battle for Earth was too great. I have to go back to that place, pick up my other self and leave, knowing I'm turning my back on my own brother forever. Two days from now I must make that journey knowing there is no other way."

Jayden leaned on the table as he looked intently at Ed.

"Doctor," he said, "I will say one thing only on this matter – I own a laser pistol. You may tell the universe he's Harold Saxon from Earth but we know he's also the Master, and if that bastard ever tries anything ever again I_ will _be putting that pistol to his head."

Ed looked at him in confusion.

"I don't understand..."

Jayden gave a sigh as he drew out his pocket watch, opened it to check the time, and then turned back towards the open back door.

"Rose?" he called, "Ace? Where are the ladies of the house?"

And Ace stuck her head out of the back door.

"What do you want, Jayden?" she asked impatiently, and Ed smiled and looked away on hearing the annoyance in her voice. He guessed eventually she would learn to love Jayden for all his better qualities and see him for the loyal friend he was – but getting used to his attitude would take some time...

"Be a darling and put the kettle on," he called back to her, "Me and the Doctor would like some tea. You can make some for yourself too if you want to join us."

"Make it yourself!" Ace called back.

"I'm trying to distract her and it's not working!" Jayden said in frustration as Ace stepped out of the house, and then Rose appeared in the doorway behind her with a puzzled look on her face.

"Why?" Ed asked him.

"Because that," Jayden said, pointing to the Tenth Doctor's Tardis at the bottom of the garden, "Is a time machine."

"Obviously," Ed replied, "That's why I'm a Time lord, because I can travel through it!"

"No, you're missing the point – what's up with you, Doctor? You used to be so much sharper!"

Then he glanced around.

"Oh shit, here she comes...we don't need this complication at _this_ moment!"

Rose was still standing by the back door, but Ace was walking down the path towards them.

"She's not stupid!" Ed reminded him, "Why are you trying to distract her?"

"Because it would be better if we _don't_ take her with us on this trip..."

"What trip?"

Jayden gave a sigh.

"Has falling in love made you stupid?"

Ed stared at him.

"I don't understand what you're trying to say!"

"_Think!"_

Jayden snapped his fingers in front of the Doctor's face.

"That blue box over there is a time machine. We don't have to go back for the other Doctor for two more days. We have time. _Time,_ Doctor! Time to look ahead and think some more on the matter of your brother. Are you with me yet, because if you are, we should go now?"

Suddenly everything he had just said fell into place and Ed jumped up from the bench.

"You're right, we should go!"

"_Oi! Wait for me!" _Ace called as the two men hurried towards the blue police box.

And Rose stood on the doorstep looking bewildered as the Doctor went into the Tardis and Jayden followed and closed the door. Then Ace hurried to catch up and went inside, seconds before the Tardis made its familiar groan and wheeze and faded in and out, and then vanished.

* * *

As the Tardis took flight into space, Ed looked across the console and smiled as Jayden smiled back at him.

"This feels like the old days," Ed remarked, "But of course this is a different Tardis."

Jayden glanced down at the flight controls.

"No problem, Doctor...I recognise the basic functions, you taught this co pilot well."

"Co pilot?" said Ace.

And as the Doctor and Jayden both looked at her in surprise.

"Ace?" the Doctor said, and Jayden gave a sigh.

"I really would have preferred you to keep out of this."

"But she can't!" Ed told him, "She needs to be here!"

"Why?" Ace asked, "I don't even know where we're going!"

Jayden turned a dial and checked the flight co ordinates.

"Our destination is one you are familiar with by now - the planet of Usscora in the constellation of Cygnus in the galaxy of Carina Zagreus. The year of arrival is 3150... six months after your previous visit..."

He paused to take out his pocket watch and adjust it, "...And the local time on arrival will be 3.15 pm."

And he snapped the pocket watch shut.

"Any questions?"

Her eyes grew wider.

"No..." she said in a hushed voice, "_No,_ this can't be happening! You can't go forward in time like this, not for the Master! Why would you want to?"

Ed was still looking down at the console.

"Because I want to see how it all turns out for him."

"_But why?" _Ace demanded, and the Doctor looked up from the console.

"Because he's my brother, no matter what he's done in the past he's _still _my brother!"

Ace stared at both men as they stood at the flight controls and the Tardis continued to rush through the vortex.

"You...you can't!" she said nervously, "Think about it...won't this mess up the Tenth Doctor getting back?"

"Not at all," Ed told her, "He's going to be reunited with the Tardis very soon, its a fixed point in time. In another time and place, it's already happened, or I would not still have the Tardis far into the future!"

Then Jayden spoke up.

"I'm no Time lord, but I do understand that time is a complicated matter, like a tangle of string but made of -" he looked to Ed, "What did you call it once? Slimey-wimey -"

"_Timey-wimey _stuff, complicated stuff," Ed replied as he looked to Ace, "But no, this journey will _not_ affect my Tenth self being reunited with his Tardis."

Ace looked back at him nervously.

"We should go back. I told you, leave him alone, he's the Master! I don't care if he's your brother, he's _still _the Master!"

"I'm sorry," Ed told her, "I can't do that, Ace. As much as I love you I can't turn the Tardis around and go back. I have to see him, at least one more time. I can't do that when my other self returns – he will be on his way and we will be back on earth in a grounded ship that can no longer fly! This is my only chance to see him again and find out how it all turns out for him. I can't spend the rest of my life wondering. Can you understand that?"

She shook her head as she blinked back tears.

"No," she said,"I can't understand it!_ Let him go!_"

Jayden spoke up as he leaned on the console, looking at her intently.

"If you love the Doctor, you will understand he needs to see his brother. I don't like Harold Saxon any more than you do, but I _do_ understand why he needs to do this!"

Ace fell silent as she watched the vortex rushing by. Then as starlit space blinked at the the end of it, she turned back to the console.

"Okay," she said quietly, "If you really want to do this, you should do it. But then I want you to make me a promise: _Promise me you'll turn your back and walk away from him forever!_"

And Jayden glanced down at the console, saying nothing, as Ed stood beside him looking at Ace.

"Promise me," she said again, "Because I need to hear you say it."

He was still looking at her, unsure of how to reply.

"Doctor, please!" Ace begged him, "Please just say it..._Say it!_"


	9. Chapter 9

**Author note: warning, expect strong language from angry Ace...**

* * *

Chapter 9

The Tardis continued to travel on through time and space as the occupants within stood still, the Doctor staring at Ace as panic flickered in his eyes, while Jayden Drake remained at the console looking down at the controls, having no wish to start a quarrel now, before any firm decision had been made.

"You can't, can you?" Ace said accusingly, "You can't promise me because you've already made your mind up!"

And the Doctor felt a wave of terror wash over him as he wondered if she was about to turn her back and walk away as soon as they returned to Earth. She wouldn't do that, not after he had waited so long for her...or would she? There was a look of anger burning in her eyes and he knew there was nothing he could say and no promise he could give her that would make the truth any easier for her to accept.

"Please try and understand," he began, "There is no easy solution -"

"_Yes there is!"_ she fumed, _"It's not difficult, Doctor – you leave the bastard to rot! I was there, have you forgotten I met him back in your Seventh life? He was evil then, he's evil now, he can change his face and his voice and look younger and call himself anything he likes – but he's still the Master. How can you let go of that? What kind of man am I having a child with, some idiot who can just brush the past aside like it doesn't matter and give in to pitying his worst enemy? Why are you doing this?"_

Hurt reflected in the Doctor's eyes.

"Because he's my brother!"

Then Jayden looked up from the console and fixed her with a hardened gaze.

"Ace," he said darkly as he struggled to hold back his anger, "_Dorothy McShane, Miss High and mighty baseball bat wielding iron knickers_, if I _may_ have your attention for a few seconds -"

She glared at him.

"Yes, I have got a baseball bat and you'll find out I can use it too, if you don't shut your gob!"

He gave a weary sigh and continued to speak:

"The Doctor loves his brother. No, they don't get on, in fact the Master_ hates_ him – for all the wrong reasons – and the only reason the Doctor loves him is because he's forgiving and he will never forget he's still the man's brother! You _can't _change that, okay?"

Ace drew in a slow breath as she struggled to hold back from losing her temper and making a bad situation far worse by punching the Doctor's best friend.

Ed looked at her apologetically.

"He's right, Ace. Long ago I believed the Master to be dead. I thought he was gone, and then when I found out the truth I had no time to think about it, because he was trying to kill me and steal the Tardis. So nothing has changed, I know that! But Jayden's right, I can't change either. I will _always_ forgive him."

Ace folded her arms tightly as she looked away to the sight of the rushing vortex and blinked away tears as she ached to sob and scream and shout and somehow handle the anger and frustration that was starting to shred her happiness, nibbling away at it with sharp teeth like baby piranhas had somehow gained access to her heart.

"What a fucking situation!" she said in a voice choked with tears, "Nothing is ever simple, is it? Here was me thinking I'm with you, I found you in your last lifetime and we were going to have this great life together!"

She turned around, tears streaking her face as she unfolded her arms and dragged in some air, _"And you've bloody ruined it! You'll never leave him alone, he's going to be in our lives, polluting everything because you won't let him go! I wish he was dead, Doctor! I really do, I wish he'd died back on Earth! I could live with him stuck in the ground where Jayden used to be, I could handle walking past his grave every day because I'd be reminded he's finally gone!"_

And Jayden looked down at the console.

"This is awkward..." he muttered.

"_I told you to shut your gob!"_ Ace yelled, _"This was your idea, dick head, you're to blame for this!"_

"Ace..."

The Doctor put his hand on her shoulder and she turned to face him, looking at him with angry, tearful eyes.

"This is going to wreck our future! The _Master_ will wreck it!"

"He won't be wrecking anything. I don't even know if he's still alive. We won't find out until we get there."

Ace dragged in a breath and blinked away tears of anger as she thought about what he had said.

"Well I hope he's gone," she said to him, "I really do, Ed. I hope the Master is dead and buried so we can try and pretend he never existed!"

"Well you're about to find out, because we're landing," Jayden announced, and the Doctor turned back to the console and threw a switch as Jayden worked the other side of the controls, and the Tardis landed smoothly as Ace stood there in silence, still praying the Master would be dead and out of their lives forever.

* * *

They stepped out of the Tardis on to a grassy bank that led down to the medical centre. Ace was busy wiping her eyes as she followed the Doctor towards the building. Jayden offered her a handkerchief.

"You know where you can stick that!" she snapped.

"Where, back in my pocket?" Jayden replied in a voice steeped in sarcasm, and Ace shot him a stony look and then walked on ahead, beside the Doctor, as they approached the entrance to the building.

Once inside, they took the lift the the floor where the Master had previously been recovering, and while the Doctor went off to make enquiries, Ace went to the end of the corridor to a seating area and sat down alone.

Then someone sat beside her.

She turned her head.

"Ace," Jayden began, "I know you're not too fond of me -"

"_Fuck off!"_

"Okay, you're really not fond of me at all -"

"I told you -"

"I just want to talk to you, can I do that? If you don't like what I have to say, I will be a gentleman and fuck off as requested, okay?"

She gave a weary sigh and turned her head, meeting his gaze with a cold expression.

"I might as well put up with this – you seem to have got your own way with the Doctor, is it my turn now?"

"I'm not manipulating anything!" he said as his dark eyes widened, "And I won't let you accuse me of doing that! I have the Doctor's best interest at heart, I simply pointed out the fact that we still had the Tenth Doctor's time machine to use as we wished, and that meant we could go forward in time so he could learn of the outcome. That was all. What he does next is up to him!"

"How could you be so stupid?" she exclaimed, "He's the Master, if the Doctor starts wanting to forgive him and have him in his life it could be dangerous for all of us!"

"The Master was seriously injured in that fall. He's got no regenerations left and he's stuck in a smashed up body, he's _not _going to be capable of threatening anyone!"

His words had little impact on Ace.

"So what? The Doctor should turn his back on him now, it's the only thing left to do!"

"He once told me he has never stopped forgiving the Master. It didn't matter what he did, he always forgave him, and he always will. You can't change the fact that the Doctor is a good man who has a massive capacity for forgiveness. I don't think you'd _want_ to try and change that, would you?"

Ace shook her head.

"Of course not! But can't you see, he should leave the Master alone, he should walk away and forget about him!"

"But he can't do that because he's the Doctor. You should know that as well as I do. The Doctor is thousands of years old, he's lived more lives than I can count, his face has changed many times but he's _still_ the same man inside – and that man _never_ changes."

Ace had fallen silent.

"You know it's all true," Jayden added, "I'm not lying to you about anything. I'm just trying to help the Doctor with a difficult situation. You're not with some ordinary bloke like me -"

"I wouldn't be with a bloke like you!" she exclaimed, and Jayden smiled, then continued, "You're not with an ordinary bloke. He's a Time lord. Alien in every sense of the word, especially when you think about how long he's lived and how many lifetimes he's had. And all through that, he's never forgotten the Master is his brother, not once in thousands of years. Anyone who tries to change his opinion on that matter may as well piss into the wind."

Ace paused for a moment, and then as she replied her anger had begun to fade.

"I really hate to admit this," she replied, "But I do know you're right, I know what you're trying to say, it makes sense."

"So, do you like me now?"

"Don't push your luck."

He settled back in his seat and gave a sigh.

"You know your problem, Ace?"

"No but I'm sure you're going to tell me..."

"You're too aggressive. You don't need to get all worked up and angry all the time."

She looked at him and wondered if he was about to start getting her back up all over again, but then she saw a look of sincerity in his eyes.

"Oh, I see – you think I should be a good little woman and stay at home and keep my mouth shut?"

"No, I'm just saying, women shouldn't be so violent, so involved in trouble. It's not like that where I come from. The Doctor's late wife Barbara was like you, she was always willing to get into a fight, and look where it got her – killed in battle!"

Ace started to smile.

"I get it – you're saying women shouldn't fight because they'll get killed?"

"That's right!" he said.

"Like _you _did?" Ace added, and the smile that had started to appear on Jayden's face vanished.

"Oh...yeah, so I did...I'd forgotten that part..."

Then Ace smiled as she shook her head.

"Idiot..." she said, and laughed softly.

* * *

As the Doctor entered the Master's room he closed the door quietly behind him.

"I know you're there," said Harold Saxon.

His voice was just above a whisper and he sat in a wheelchair facing a wide window, his back was turned to the door but he knew at once who had entered the room without turning his head.

"I came back to see you," Ed told him as he approached the Master, who was still looking towards the window.

"Don't bother," he replied weakly, "The game is over and you won. I hope you feel happy about that...no...you can't, because of that conscience of yours..."

And then he laughed, but the laugh turned into a cough and his hands gripped at the armrests of his chair as he struggled to breathe.

"If you've come back...to watch me die..." he paused again to drag in a difficult breath, "You're in for a _long _wait!"

And as Ed stood in front of him, the Master's eyes burned with defiance.

"I still win, Doctor...in the end...because my death will _hurt_ you!"

"I've spoken to the medical staff," Ed told him, sounding unaffected by the Master's words, "I understand the situation – they can't repair the damage because they don't know enough about the Time lord species. That's why you have a cybernetic unit in your chest, to keep you breathing. I also know it's going to affect your life span and you will never fully recover, this is about as good as it gets for you. _And I have a decision to make_."

Suddenly the look of bitterness was replaced by fear as the Master looked up at him.

"_Don't send me back there!"_ he said in panic as his breathing became laboured and he struggled for air,_ "Don't send me back to Gallifrey...they'll execute me!"_

And then the look in his eyes changed to one of absolute terror as he gasped in vain for air, he was struggling to breathe and slowly choking as he fought to take a breath.

"Stop it," Ed told him calmly, ignoring the look of panic in his eyes as he took out a long, sleek sonic screw driver from his pocket, it was black and engraved with silver Gallifreyan swirls and the tip glowed white as he activated it, placing it close to the centre of the silver unit set into the Master's chest.

"I was told about this – the cybernetic life support isn't perfect, it can't keep up if you get worked up, so calm down, I have loosen the valve, its got too tight again...a short burst on the lowest setting will put it right, until the next time. Good thing this unit is designed to take these kinds of adjustments."

As he used the sonic device on the unit set in the middle of his chest, the Master suddenly drew in a breath and the look of terror was gone from his eyes.

Ed put the screwdriver back in his pocket and continued to speak as the Master slowly regained control of his breathing.

"I was told a sonic device is the best kind to use when you get that problem. Try not to get so worked up again, you'll end up fighting to breathe all over again."

The Master's face was pale and he was still breathless as he buttoned his shirt to cover the unit set in his chest.

"You could have let me die."

"No, you know I'll never do that. I can't, because I don't change. And I suppose you never will, either. I can see it in your eyes. And I'm thinking about Ace and the baby and my future with them. There's no place for you in that. So either I turn my back and walk away now, or I take you back to Gallifrey and let justice finally catch up with you...I think the best I can do in this situation, is take you home."

He looked in alarm at the Doctor as he struggled not to become breathless again, taking in a slow and unsteady breath as he summoned the strength to speak.

"So you _are _like me, deep down inside, you always were, Doctor! All these years..." he dragged in another breath, "You were waiting, for the end, for something like this...maybe you already knew...you planned this...in the end, to take me back to Gallifrey... to watch me die by execution!"

Ed said nothing as he looked into his eyes, still weighing up his choices.

"Go on then, " the Master said, "Kill me! Do it the only way you can...at the hands of others! A nice easy murder for you with no weight on your conscience..." he paused to draw in another breath, "Then you can live your life... you and her … without remembering me! Pretend I never existed!"

And in that moment Ed saw bitterness in his eyes, that same look that had always been in the eyes of the Master.

"No," he said quietly as he stood over him, "I can't ever be like you. I came here still hoping you would show some small indication that you may have regretted some of your actions, that perhaps this time has given you the chance to think about how your life has been, and how it could be...I wanted to give you another chance. Perhaps I'm wasting my time."

He leaned closer to the Master.

"Perhaps I should be thinking about those I should put first - like Ace and Jayden, people I know I can trust! Perhaps you _are_ better off dead!"

And then he stepped back from the Master, took one last look at him and shook his head.

"I didn't expect it to be easy," he said, "But you've just made it a little easier for me."

Bitterness still shone in the Master's eyes.

"And I will hear the sound of drums until I draw my last breath!" he said defiantly, "It will never leave me!"

"It's not drums, its not a call to you to wage war on the universe," Ed replied, "And you know that. We both know why you hear that sound. You're just too afraid to admit what it really means, in case you have to drop the charade and stop hiding behind all the anger and the bitterness. What's left?"

And the Master stared at him, his damaged breathing quickening as he struggled to find an answer that would cover up the truth.

"_Nothing is left!"_ he said angrily, _"Nothing!"_

And as Ed looked back at him, he shook his head.

"You're still lying," he replied, "That was the wrong answer and you know it. And now I can see coming here was a waste of time, and time is something I do not intend to waste now I have no regenerations left. I want to be with Ace, I want to be happy and most of all, I want to walk away from you."

And then he turned away and left the room.

The Master leaned forward as he fought to control his breathing, struggling between forcing even breaths and trying not to make a sound as he gave a stifled sob and tears of regret ran down his face.

* * *

_"Doctor?"_

Ace's voice rang out down the corridor as she hurried to catch up with him.

_"Wait up!"_ she called, and he slowed his pace, walking away from the Master's room had been difficult, and with every step he took to further the distance between them, the deeper the pain had become.

As he stopped and waited and Ace and Jayden caught up with him, he knew at a glance that Ace would never, ever be able to understand how difficult it had been, how difficult it still was, and how much pain and regret he would always carry for the decision he had just made. Perhaps Jayden would partly understand, but Ace never would. And the only other person who could ever truly comprehend it all was his Time lord brother, who he had left behind...

Ace was looking at him optimistically.

"So its over now, right? You're walking away from him..that's good...let's just keep walking..."

She grabbed his hand and held it tightly as they began to walk down the corridor towards the lift.

"I'm so glad it's ended this way," Ace was saying, "I kept thinking, if you forgive him, if you feel sorry for him, you might have brought him home with us and I couldn't have handled that...I really couldn't, I just wouldn't have felt safe. I was so scared you might actually think of doing that. I'm so glad you didn't do it, Ed...I'm so glad you're leaving him here...Are you listening?"

"Yes I heard you," he said quietly as they approached the lift that would take them to the ground floor, and then out of the building and into the Tardis, and back home, it would be the end of a journey that would bring about a decision that he could not change, and every step towards the end of the corridor was becoming more painful and difficult as he felt pain in his twin hearts knowing there could be no going back on the choice he made...

Relief was shining in her eyes as Ace spoke again.

"We're free of him, I'm so glad we're free at last! No more Master in our lives... you did the right thing, I'm so proud of you, I love you so much..."

"Is everything alright, Doctor?" Jayden asked quietly as they reached the lift and Ace hit the call button, eager to get him out of the building as quickly as possible.

He nodded.

"I think so."

"Of course it is!" Ace added, speaking for him, "He did the right thing, Jayden, he did the best for us."

"Or the best for _you_?" Jayden replied, and confusion clouded her eyes.

"_Don't_ start on me again!"

"I'm not," Jayden said, "I'm just pointing out we have to wait for this lift, Ace. And maybe you should quit while you're ahead."

And he flashed her a warning look that worried her greatly as he then turned to Ed, who stood beside the lift with tears in his eyes as he looked back down the corridor.

"And now I really can't shut up," Jayden said to Ace, "I need to ask a question and I don't care if you hate me for it... Doctor, are you _sure_ you can live with this choice?"

"Don't!" Ace said in alarm, but she knew as Ed turned to her, she knew as she saw tears in his eyes that the battle she thought of as won had been lost from the start, Jayden was right – the Doctor could never change, he would never stop forgiving the Master...

"_Ace,"_ he said as tears shone in his eyes, _"I'm sorry, but Jayden is right. I can't do this. I can't walk away from him. I'm going back."_


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

As the door opened the Master looked up sharply to see the Doctor enter the room.

"Why have you come back?" the Master said bitterly, "Don't tell me..." he dragged in a breath, "Don't tell me we are not the same... you came back to watch me suffer!"

But this time there was no hint of anger in the Doctor's voice as he gave his reply.

"You're right," he replied, "We _are _the same."

The Master's eyes grew wider as he looked at him in disbelief.

"In what way, Doctor?"

"Because deep down inside, that bond that grew in our childhood still exists! And time and all the battles that have passed between us can never change it! I know I'm right, because I see it in your eyes!"

The Master sat there unable to deny the truth as he looked back at him tearfully.

"You're still the frightened, unloved child, the one who ran to his big brother for comfort when our father rejected you!"

Then Ed leaned closer and demanded the truth.

"_I'm not leaving until I hear the answer to my question!"_

The Master dragged in a sharp breath as he blinked away tears. He was pale and shaking as he struggled to stay in control of his breathing.

"I can't say it..."

The Doctor spoke again, ignoring his refusal.

"The sound of drums, the call to war...only a call to war in your twisted thinking, a signal for you to bury all your hatred into a plan to destroy the universe, because your life didn't turn out like mine!The truth, I _must _hear it!"

The Master was still trembling as he shook his head and then looked away. The Doctor gently turned his head back, forcing him to meet with his gaze and then he continued to hold him in a firm grip, refusing to allow him the chance to look away as he spoke again.

"It is _not_ the sound of drums! The sound you hear is from your childhood, from the day you ran weeping to the only person who cared, who held you in his arms as you wept! That sound was not drums...tell me what you really heard!"

More tears ran down the Master's face.

"I can't..."

"Yes, you can!" the Doctor said sharply, still refusing to let go and allow him to turn away, "That sound you heard was the rhythm of a Time lord's heart beat! Which Time lord, tell me, I want to hear you say it, the memory of whose heart beat has never left you, little brother?"

Then he gave a sob, and in that moment the Doctor knew something inside the Master that had been determined to stay cold and bitter, was now broken.

"_Whose_ heart beat can you never forget?" he demanded again.

A tear ran down the Master's face as he looked at his brother, the only one who had ever loved him back on Gallifrey, the only one who had made his childhood bearable.

"_Yours..." _he whispered.

And the Doctor pulled him into a gentle embrace as the Master continued to weep.

"That was all I wanted to hear," he told him softly, "And I _am_ taking you home - I'm taking you with me, back to Earth."

And as the Master struggled to breathe he continued to sob, with his head against the Doctor's chest, and through the fabric of his clothing, he heard a sound that no longer called to mind the drums of war, instead he heard the double heart beat of a Time lord.

* * *

"I don't believe this... How could he..."

"_Don't."_

"But the Master -"

"_Don't!"_ Jayden said again, and this time he made more of an effort to keep his voice low as the Doctor walked on ahead of them towards the exit.

Ace stopped walking on leaving the building, and stood and watched as the Doctor opened the Tardis door and helped the Master inside, carefully guiding his wheelchair through the narrow entrance.

"He can't come with us!" Ace said, "It's going to ruin everything!"

"Did you see the look in the Master's eyes?" Jayden asked her, ""I saw no trace of his old bitterness. I really do believe the two of them have finally made peace. It doesn't mean we can trust him, but it means the Doctor does, so we should respect that."

And then he started to walk towards the Tardis, and Ace hurried to catch up.

"Wait -"

Jayden paused by the Tardis door.

"What now, Ace?"

"Don't you think the Doctor should give this a little more thought?"

"No," he replied, "And if you try and make him reconsider, you'll only succeed in pushing him away. He needs you on his side, he needs us _both_ on his side."

"Just because he feels sorry for the Master?"

Jayden replied quietly.

"No, because the Master is dependent on a built in cybernetic life support that functions poorly. So at least you won't have to put up with him forever. You haven't worked it out, have you?"

"What have I missed?" Ace wondered.

"_The Master is dying," _Jayden replied quietly, and then he went inside the Tardis and Ace followed, feeling rather alarmed that now she finally knew the truth, she was actually feeling shocked about it...

* * *

As Rose continued to wait in the garden, the air was filled with the sound of the Tardis returning and as the police box solidified and the door opened, she stared in disbelief... the Doctor was back, and Harold Saxon was with him?

"What's going on?" she called out, and ran down the pathway.

"I'll handle her," Jayden said to the Doctor, and he walked on ahead, stopping Rose abruptly, then he put his arm around her shoulder, she looked back, still concerned that the Master was back, but Jayden lead her into the house to explain everything.

"So that's Rose dealt with?" Ace said accusingly.

"Ace, I've made my decision. And Rose is leaving soon."

"I need to talk to you."

"Later," the Doctor replied.

"No, _now._ I need to talk to both of you."

The Doctor stopped walking, and stopped pushing the Master's chair.

"Can't this wait? I told you, I've made my decision."

The Master looked at her, and she looked at him, and for the first time – now she had stopped glaring at him in anger – she could see just how weak he really was.

"Just say it," he whispered, weakened from crying and still breathing with difficultly, "Say it, Ace. I know you don't want me here."

"Jayden said you're dying."

"What of it?" the Master replied.

"Yes he is," Ed told her, "He is dying, Ace. But hopefully not for a long time. We don't know how many years the cybernetic life support will last."

And the Master looked at her with a faint playful sparkle in his eyes.

"Sorry about that, love. I could be around for a long time...just not _quite_ as long as I'd like to be."

And then Ace spoke again, and what she said surprised the Doctor:

"I'm sorry," she said, "For both of you."

And as the three of them stood in the Tardis garden talking, no one heard the quarrel that was happening in the house...

* * *

"You know what you are?" Rose exclaimed as she looked at Jayden, "You're a prick, that's what you are, mate! You brought the _Master_ back into their lives?"

"What gives you the right to judge anyone?" Jayden exclaimed, "You're a visitor in this house – sorry, this Tardis, you're not even from this time or place! In your time line you haven't even met the Master!"

"Oh, but I have now! I need to warn the Doctor about everything that's happened here!"

His dark eyes widened.

"No, you can't do that. The Doctor's lives are _very_ complicated, events happen and the time line depends on it all turning out the way it already has! Don't you know you could damage the future if you try and change it? Don't you say a word! When you see him again, you keep your mouth shut!"

Rose stared back at him in disbelief.

"I'll tell him what I like, you _can't_ tell me what to do!"

"What's going on?"

They turned around to see the Doctor standing in the doorway.

"Sorry Ed," Jayden told him, "I was just pointing out to Rose that she knows far too much about the future and the Master and she needs to keep her mouth shut."

"Well that's true but I wouldn't have put it so bluntly. Jayden, I need you to help my brother up the stairs – get him comfortable in the spare room."

"Since when did my name change to _Nurse Drake_?"

"What's the matter now?"

Ace had joined Jayden, and the Doctor looked back at Rose and made a decision.

"Ace, I need you to help Jayden get my brother upstairs to the spare room. Please, can you do that for me?"

Ace gave a sigh.

"Okay, we cant leave him in the hallway, can we..."

And she walked off, called to Jayden and then he turned to follow, but turned back towards the Doctor with a questioning look in his eyes.

"What's going on with -"

"Could you just leave us for a moment, please?"

"What?"

"_Just leave us, Jayden."_

And suddenly he caught on, and then he nodded and quickly left the room, closing the door behind him.

* * *

Now they were alone together, Rose looked to the Doctor with confusion in her eyes.

"What was he on about, that it's dangerous, how can it be dangerous to have a bit of knowledge about what could happen in the future? When I see _my_ Doctor again, I want him to know about all this!"

Ed stepped closer to her, looked into the eyes of Rose Tyler and smiled.

"I understand," he said softly, "Of course you do. And while I'm happy with Ace I can't deny it won't be easy saying goodbye to you tomorrow."

The look in her eyes turned to one of surprise.

"Ed...you shouldn't be talking like that, I'm with -"

"The Doctor? Another version of me. We're the same man. And while he may never choose the right moment to tell you, _I _will."

"Tell me what?" she wondered.

He ran his hand over her hair, as their eyes locked and her pupils deepened and darkened he spoke softly to her:

"I love you, Rose," he whispered, "And now I want you to forget I said that, and to forget everything that happened since you arrived here. You came here for the antidote and then you stayed with me and Ace and nothing happened, _nothing_ at all."

She smiled.

"I can't just forget it."

"Yes, you can," he promised her, and he leaned closer and she closed her eyes as their lips touched, and as she reached for him to pull him closer, she slumped in his arms and he caught her.

"_Forget it ever happened,"_ he said in a low voice, _"Forget it all, Rose Tyler."_

And then he carried her over to the sofa and and carefully laid her down on to it, where she rested in a deep sleep.

* * *

As the door opened, Jayden looked in surprise at the sight of Rose passed out on the sofa as Ed stood over.

"Blimey!" he exclaimed, "How much of the old _Forget Me_ power did you use on her?"

"Not too much," he replied, "But she will sleep until the morning. When she wakes up she won't remember anything that happened here."

And Jayden laughed.

"You know, that _Forget Me_ trick could have great potential..."

"What do you mean?"

Jayden winked.

"Handy with the women..."

"Stop it!" the Doctor said, and then he turned his thoughts back to more serious matters.

"Is the Master comfortable?"

"Too comfortable. He just asked Ace to make some tea."

"And she told him where to go?"

"No," Jayden said, looking surprised, "She's in the kitchen putting the kettle on!"

And the Doctor smiled.

"I knew she had it in her to show him some kindness," he said, "Come on, let's go and join her, I need to explain about Rose."

And they left the room, leaving Rose Tyler to sleep deeply, unaware the Doctor had just erased all memory of how the future would unfold...

* * *

Rose slept until morning, when she woke up on the sofa in the front room and sat up feeling confused and wondering why she had not gone to bed.

She looked around and noticed the time, it was eight thirty and she felt vaguely strange...

No. Perhaps..._hungover?_

She saw the glasses and the empty wine bottle on the table and frowned, having no memory of drinking anything the night before. Then it hit her that she had no memory of much of her stay here at all...

The door opened and the Doctor and Jayden walked in.

"Morning Rose," said Jayden, and he set a cup of coffee down on the table.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Last night?" Ed replied, "Not much...but I did warn you not to play spin the bottle with Jayden, but it's okay...Idris doesn't mind. It was only a kiss."

Now she felt utterly confused.

_"I kissed Idris?"_

Jayden laughed.

"In my dreams! No, love – you kissed me. And very nice it was too!"

Rose stared at him.

"I did what?"

And Jayden caught the warning look in the Doctor's eyes and swiftly turned away.

"I've got stuff to be getting on with...see you later, Rose..."

"I kissed him? I don't remember...Doctor, I don't remember anything at all, I mean, _nothing_ about the time I've been here..."

"Do you remember me and Ace fetching the anti venom from the poisons archive?"

She nodded.

"Yeah, and we took it to the Doctor and then came back here...the rest is a total blank!"

"I wouldn't worry too much about that."

"But Doctor, I can't remember!"

"I packed your bag for you!" Ace called from the hallway, "No need to go upstairs for anything...it's all done."

Rose looked back at Ed.

"Why do I feel like something happened and I can't remember...did me and Jayden -"

And then more confusion clouded her eyes.

"I don't even remember meeting him for the first time...When did he turn up here, who _is_ Jayden?"

"He's an old friend," Ed told her, "And you passed out on the sofa last night after we had a few drinks and we left you to sleep it off. And my _perfect_ memory tells me that any minute now, _your_ Doctor will be recalling his Tardis earlier than expected, and coming back here to pick you up!"

And then the sound of the wheeze and groan of the Tardis filled the air. Rose ran to the window and looked out, in time to see the Tenth Doctors Tardis disappear, and then just as quickly, it reappeared in the same spot at the bottom of the garden.

"He's back?" she exclaimed.

Ed smiled.

"I told you, I remember doing it, even though it was so long ago – my memory is perfect!"

And then Rose stared at him, wondering why that remark ought to trigger a whole set of memories that she just couldn't find any more.

"I thought your memory was damaged when you were disconnected from the power core?"

"I don't know!" he said quickly, "I can't remember!" And then he laughed as Rose looked at him doubtfully.

Then the door to the Tardis opened and her eyes lit up with joy, and as she ran out to the garden to meet with the Tenth Doctor, Ed stood at the window and watched as she ran down the path and the two of them embraced, and his twin hearts vaguely ached for the past as it occurred to him he had done no better than his former self – he had told Rose he loved her this time, and then erased it, along with everything else, and when the time came for Rose to say goodbye to her Doctor, he would also never give her the message and she would never hear him say those words...

* * *

Rose smiled as her eyes sparkled and she looked into the eyes of the Tenth Doctor, who looked fully recovered as he smiled back at her.

"Have you missed me?" he asked, and she laughed as she blinked away tears.

"And I got your message," he added, "Thank you for calling me and no, I don't think it was pointless for you to call me when my phone was off to say how you feel. I missed you too."

As Rose looked into his eyes, she wanted to tell him she loved him, and not for the first time, the words went unsaid as she wondered if the time was right.

"I've missed you more than you know."

"Same here," he told her, and he leaned closer and kissed her, and then let her go as Ed walked up the path to join them.

"Thanks," he said to him, "I really appreciate all your help. And thanks for taking care of Rose for me. Have I missed much?"

And Ed laughed.

"Not at all. Nothing ever happens around here, I'm the last Doctor with the Tardis that no longer flies...I live quietly."

"Perhaps we'll meet again sometime," his former self said, and then he put his arm around Rose Tyler and then Ed watched as they went back into the Tardis, and moments later the blue police box faded from sight and disappeared.

* * *

Later that night as darkness fell, ribbons of light slipped about Jayden's bedroom and then Iris appeared in a shower of light, and smiled as she slipped her arms around her lover.

And further up the hallway, Ace watched as the Doctor sat beside the Master's bed and spoke quietly to him as he took hold of his hand.

"_This is a new start,"_ he told him.

"_But it's come too late,"_ the Master replied quietly, _"And that is entirely my fault."_

Ed smiled.

"_Not for me. I've never stopped forgiving you."_

And Ace turned away from the doorway and silently hoped the Doctor was right, because if he was wrong, they would all be in danger eventually...

* * *

**Four Years Later:**

_Ace had been wrong._

It really had been a new start for the Doctor and his brother, in time Ace had come to understand the Master really did want a new life, and most of all, wanted to make the most of the time he had left. She stopped thinking of him as the Master, enemy of the Doctor and began to see him as Harold Saxon, a man who desperately wanted to make a mends for the past.

_And every time he mentioned that past, the Doctor always reminded him that he was forgiven..._

Ace tried to warm to him, but it didn't happen quickly.

After their baby daughter was born and the Doctor had insisted his brother got a chance to hold his baby niece, Ace had watched and felt like her guts were twisting up as the Master held her baby daughter Daisy in his arms, and then she had wondered why she felt so bad about him doing that when he had looked at her with such love in his eyes.

It had taken time, and suddenly time was running out and then it occurred to Ace that the Master had become a part of the family much in the way she had accepted Jayden Drake – suddenly, it had simply made sense that he belonged...

And now the sun was setting on a warm afternoon that would have usually seen all of them in the garden, because Daisy loved to play, the Tardis was forever changing the garden around so the little girl had new places to explore, but today Ace had made sure she had gone to bed early, and as the little girl slept, she was unaware that the Master, who she had only ever known as Uncle Harry, was dying.

Ace watched as her daughter slept soundly in her bed, then she closed the door softly and turned to see Jayden standing beside her.

"How is he?" she asked.

"No change," Jayden replied, "I don't think he's in any pain...I hope he's not. But the unit is failing and he's struggling now. There's nothing the Doctor can do."

Then Jayden took in a breath and fought back tears.

"There's nothing any of us can do. I hate it, I never thought it would have turned out like this, I thought he was going to be trouble, but he's not, he's Daisy's Uncle Harry. He's not the Master any more, he's her uncle and he's dying."

"I'm going to see him,"Ace told him, "You just stay around up here, in case Daisy wakes up or something...I need to be there for both of them."

Jayden nodded.

"Of course," he replied, and she went down the hallway to the room where the Doctor sat beside his dying brother.

* * *

As the door opened and Ace walked into the room, the Master briefly smiled.

"Ace..." he whispered, and then he blinked away tears. "I'm sorry...I didn't tell Daisy and -"

"Shh," Ace said to him as she stood beside his bed, "It's okay, it really is! She wouldn't have understood, we will tell her when the time comes, me and Ed will tell her together. Don't worry. Just try and rest. Maybe you're not dying, maybe -"

"_Ace, his chest unit is failing."_

She saw pain in the Doctor's eyes and nodded, falling silent as she realised he could barely cope with the situation that was now unfolding – the Master had been dependant on the cybernetic unit for his survival, and now it was failing and nothing could save him...

The Master fought for breath and as fear reflected in his eyes, the Doctor sat on the edge of the bed and put his arm around him.

"_It makes no sense...to be afraid..." _the Master whispered as his speech was broken by his weak gasps of air, _"I have lived...many times and now...I know it's the end... and I am afraid..."_

The Doctor held him tighter, resting the Master's head against his chest.

"Close your eyes," he said softly, "Think about two brothers who used to play together as children. Think back to those days..."

And as his breathing grew weak and his eyes began to close, the Master recalled a sunlit garden where he used to play, and the brother who adored him, as he slipped away gently to the sound of the Doctor's twin heart beats.

As the Master slumped in his arms, there was the trace of a smile frozen about his lips.

"Sleep well," the Doctor whispered as he gently kissed his cheek.

Ace blinked and tears ran down her face as she watched the Doctor gently lay his brother back down on the bed, and then he drew the sheet over his face.

"He's gone, Ace," he said, and as he got up and turned around she was already there, her arms reaching for him, and he clung to her as they wept together.

* * *

As the stars lit a velvet black night the flames from the Master's funeral pyre stretched upward and Jayden and Ace stood either side of the Doctor as he watched the fire consume the body of Harold Saxon. He recalled a pyre long ago in another lifetime, recalled the grief that had cut so deeply as he had believed him to be gone, and found solace in knowing this time, although he was gone forever, at least now there were good memories to look back on, memories of the ending of a long and bitter rivalry, and the start of what had proven to be a bond as strong as that which they had shared as boys.

Then when the fires had dies out and nothing was left but ash, they went back into the house and slept between the last gasp of night and the cold light of early morning.

_And while Ed embraced Ace and rested exhausted in her arms, Jayden Drake was woken sharply from sleep as Idris slid into his arms and pressed a finger to his lips and began to whisper a secret..._

* * *

The morning was difficult.

Ed hugged his daughter and promised her that her Uncle Harry had died peacefully. And Ace had watched as her daughter's tears had dried and smiled to see the bond between the Doctor and his half Time lord daughter was so strong that it seemed he even had the power to lift out his grief as well as hers.

And then Jayden Drake had breezed into the room looking slightly flushed as he flashed a bright smile.

"Morning everyone!" he said.

And Ed stared at him in disbelief.

"_Good_ morning? My brother died last night, have you forgotten that?"

"Not at all," he said, and turned to Daisy.

"I want you to come with me," he told her, "We're going to the maze."

And as he took the little girl's hand, he glanced back at the Doctor and Ace.

"I suggest you both come with me. Idris has been busy, and this is important."

Ed gave a weary sigh.

"This had better be important!" he snapped, "I'm not in the mood for anything today!"

* * *

As they left the house and walked along the garden path, Ed stopped and looked in surprise at the new garden area that had appeared over night:

Where the ash from the Master's funeral pyre had been, was now a walled garden, filled with roses and flower beds and in the centre was a fountain, and on that fountain stood the statues of two children playing and laughing.

"Who are the boys?" Daisy asked as she looked at the fountain.

"It's me and my brother, your Uncle Harry," the Doctor replied.

"Idris took the image from his mind, his last memory before he died," Jayden said, "You were his last thought."

Ed smiled as he looked at the fountain.

"That was very kind of her."

"And that's not all she's done," Jayden added, "You need to come with me."

And he led them towards the entrance to the maze and activated the switch to open the hidden door.

* * *

As they went down the stairway and into the maze, Jayden paused to look upwards.

"Barbara," he said, "We're all here."

"Thank you, Jayden," she replied.

"What's this about?" Ed wondered.

Jayden chuckled.

"You'll see, in a minute..."

And he leaned down and whispered something to Daisy, and she looked at him in surprise and then ran off down a corridor towards the middle of the Futuristic zone.

"Oh thanks a lot!" the Doctor said to him, "Last time she ran off in the maze it took three hours to find her, she kept messing about and running off! I know where she's going, the Aztec Zone – she loves to play in the sand!"

"She's not going there," Jayden told him, "Just wait a minute, there's a surprise..."

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

And then Daisy came running back towards them excitedly.

"_He's not dead!" _she exclaimed, _"Uncle Harry was hiding in the maze!"_

Ed and Ace exchanged a puzzled glance.

"She's right," Jayden added.

And then Ace and the Doctor stared in disbelief at the man who stepped out from the corridor:

It was the Master, he was still in the appearance of Harold Saxon, but he looked immaculate in a black suit and polished shoes and stood before them as if his injuries had never happened.

"Yes, I really am here," he said, and then he smiled.

"But how?" Ed asked him, "How could you be here and..."

And then he got it.

_"Idris?"_

The Master's smile got wider as his eyes sparkled.

"Idris," he agreed, "It was her idea. She took my last regeneration, but she didn't want me to die. But she had to be certain she could trust me, that I really had changed – so she read my thoughts, right up until the last moments, just to be sure. And then she took my mind out of my body at the point of physical death and placed me in the power core, so my mind can exist in the grid that runs through the maze."

Ed laughed as joy shone in his eyes.

"She's given you a three dimensional holographic body!"

"Yes, brother, she has!" the Master replied, "Just like she once did for you. I get to use it for eight hours a day, I am tied to the maze only but I'm happy to still be alive. And I'll be around for a long, long time, in here, _this_ is my world now."

And then he stepped forward and hugged the Doctor, who blinked away tears of relief.

"I'm so glad I haven't lost you," he told him.

"You might not be so pleased when you realise what this means...you're out of a job. I'm officially the new Maze Master!"

And the Doctor looked at him for a moment and then the two men laughed and embraced again. As Ed let go, he suddenly thought of something.

"What will you do here when you're alone?"

"I'm getting to know Barbara very well, she's promised to teach me every single route in the maze, so I can find my way around."

And the Doctor and the Master exchanged a knowing look.

"We'd better leave you to it, then!" Ed told him, "Come on, let's leave my brother to get to know Barbara...she's got some fascinating programs to run in here, come on Ace, let's go..."

And Jayden chuckled again as Ed took Ace by the hand and called to Daisy.

"What's the rush?" Ace asked him.

"Nothing," Ed replied, "I've just remembered what hard work it is to learn to be Maze Master..." and he glanced back to the Master.

"Enjoy," he said, "And I'll see you tomorrow."

The Master smiled back at him.

"Tomorrow would be perfect, me and Barbara have a _lot_ to do."

And Jayden laughed again, but swiftly stopped as Ace shot him a questioning look.

The Master watched as they left the maze, and as soon as the door had closed, he looked upwards.

"All alone now, Barbara," he said.

"Would you like me to run my cyber sex program now?" she asked softly.

"_Not just yet," _he said to her, _"Give me time to get back to the bedroom in the castle and take my clothes off first!"_

* * *

Above ground, as Jayden took Daisy into the new garden to explore, the Doctor and Ace stood on the path that led to the house and listened as birds sang in the trees and somewhere below the birdsong, the low hum of the Tardis could still be heard.

"I don't think I've ever been this happy before, not in any of my lifetimes," Ed told her, "I have you and Daisy and the Master still lives."

"I think he's going to enjoy being Maze Master," Ace told him.

"I think so too," Ed replied, "And he won't get lonely in there, not with Barbara around."

"It's turned out okay in the end," Ace added.

The Doctor smiled.

"Yes, it certainly has, it's taken me centuries, but I'm finally happy," he replied, "It turned out all right for us in the end."

"And we couldn't ask for more than that," Ace agreed, "Now we have it, Doctor – we get a happy ending at last."

And they kissed on the pathway and then the Doctor put his arm around her and they walked back to the house together.

End.

* * *

**Author Note: This is the end of the Trilogy. But... I may write more Maze Master books in the future, because I've really enjoyed writing these three fics! **


End file.
